In Russia, the families of service personnel killed in the Ukraine conflict were remembered at a gathering attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Patriarch Kirill provided over the service at Moscow’s Christ the Saviour cathedral.
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, centre, delivers the Christmas service in Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow (Oleg Varov/AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, centre left, attends an Orthodox Christmas service with the families of military personnel (Gavriil Grigorov/AP)
People walk past the Orthodox icon Virgin of Kazan projected on the dome of Kazansky Cathedral on the eve of the Orthodox Christmas celebrations in St Petersburg, Russia (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)
Meanwhile, in Bethlehem, held in Christian tradition to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, it was the turn of the Orthodox branches of Christianity to mark the occasion.
There had been muted celebrations in December when western Christian traditions held their festivities, with the conflict in Gaza casting a long shadow.
Orthodox priests walk outside the Nativity Church, where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born, on the eve of the Orthodox Christmas in Bethlehem in the West Bank (Mahmoud Illean/AP)
Nuns visit the grotto in the Nativity Church (Mahmoud Illean/AP)
