Russia's an Orthodox country so they celebrate Christmas on January 7th, not on December 25th like us. Hence why my university fall semester lasts until January 1st! Luckily I've been given special permission to go home for Christmas!
Christmas is a religious affair here and there are tons of long church services which are attended by the whole family. During the era of the Soviet Union religious celebrations & especially Christmas were discouraged & suppressed by the Communist & atheist government. Since 1992 Christmas has been re-instated as a national holiday here. Due to the lack of Christmas celebrations in Russia for decades Russians & the Soviets put more emphasis on New Year. Hence why all the posters & decorations have С Новый Годом - "Happy New Year" predominantly on them rather than "Merry Christmas".
But the Russians do take part in some more normal Christmas activities, they decorate a ёлка - tree, have large family gatherings, and are visited by Дед Мороз - Grandfather Frost AKA Santa, and his granddaughter, Снегурочка - The Snow Maiden
