As Ukrainian refugees ate Christmas dinner safe from threat of Vladimir Putin's bombs, there were tears for those facing death at home – Steve Cardownie

Air raid alerts sounded across Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine twice on Christmas Day. Fortunately, it was a false alarm and there were no reports of any Russian attacks on the country but of course, the citizens of Kyiv were not to know that as they scurried for shelter in fear.

Thankfully Ukrainian members of my family were spared such trauma as they joined me and my wife and son for a Christmas dinner on Sunday. Eleven of us gathered at the Holyrood Restaurant, for a banquet of traditional, authentic, Chinese food.

At least for a few hours, they were able to sit and enjoy each other’s company free from concern that, at any moment, a missile or a “kamikaze” drone could interrupt the proceedings and threaten their lives.

Three mothers with five children donned Santa hats and tucked into the kind of food that they had never eaten before and by the time the meal was over there was not a scrap left. Then there was the music. Ukrainian folk and love songs were played on a loudspeaker with a melodic accompaniment provided by those at our table which was much appreciated by the other patrons in the restaurant.

However, through the smiles, it was not difficult to detect the tears which periodically filled the eyes of these young women who were forced to leave their loved ones behind as they fled from Putin’s bloody incursion into their homeland.

Still the casualties pile up in this senseless war as both sides bear the brunt of Moscow’s ruthless invasion. Just on Christmas Eve, at least 16 people were killed and 64 injured in the shelling of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine by Russian forces. Among the dead, three Ukrainian emergency workers, who died when a mine exploded as they were attempting to demine parts of the region.

The Zhytomyr emergency services paid homage to them, stating on their Facebook page that “all three selflessly served… and performed the task of demining territories liberated from the enemy in the Kherson region”. Three more families left to grieve as their loved ones died trying to make the area safe for others. Three more families where Christmas will never be the same again.

In his latest video address to the nation, President Zelenskyy said that Ukrainians would create their own Christmas miracle by remaining unbowed. As millions struggle without heating, lighting or clean water, he added that, while freedom came at a high price, slavery would cost more.

An injured man stands on a street after Russian shells hit the Ukrainian city of Kherson on Saturday. Five were killed and 20 injured in the attack (Picture: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)

There are now around 10,000 Ukrainians, almost entirely women and children, who have found temporary refuge in Edinburgh and who have been spared the deprivations now being experienced by those at home, enjoying life as much as they can while the war rages on, worrying if they are about to receive the dreaded news that some terrible fate has befallen a member of their family back home.

The people of Scotland who have befriended these refugees are to be heartily commended, for it is they who have made our guests’ lives just that little bit more bearable.