President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denounced Russian air strikes coinciding with the observance of Orthodox Palm Sunday, including an attack that killed a father and daughter at home in the city of Zaporizhzhia.
A police officer inspects remains of a Russian missile which hit a residential area, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on 9th April, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Stringer
UKRAINIANS CELEBRATE PALM SUNDAY IN CHURCH MARRED BY DISPUTE
Willow branches in hand, Ukrainians marked Palm Sunday in the country’s most revered Orthodox site that has been at the heart of a religious dispute playing out in parallel with Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Dozens of worshippers filled the grand Refectory Church of Anthony and Theodosius located inside the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastic complex. Many more waited outside in the sprawling courtyard and observed the service there.
Worshippers and clergy gather to celebrate Palm Sunday at Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, Ukraine’s most revered Orthodox site in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, 9th April, 2023. PICTURE: AP Photo/Adam Pemble.
The occasion marks the first significant religious service to be held in the complex following the 29th March eviction order issued by the Ukrainian government against Orthodox monks residing in the monastery over their alleged links with Russia. The monks had refused to leave the premises before the eviction deadline.
Sunday’s service was peaceful with some police presence by the entrances of the complex.
The site, which is known in English as the Monastery of the Caves, contains a church, monastic and museum buildings. It’s oldest parts date back to the dawn of Christianity a millennium ago.
It is owned by the Ukrainian government and the state agency overseeing the property notified the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in March that it was terminating their lease. The move comes amid a wider crackdown on the UOC over its historic ties to the Russian Orthodox Church, whose leader Patriarch Kirill has supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
After the service, Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the pro-Kyiv Orthodox Church of Ukraine, blessed worshippers outside the church doors with holy water. Worshippers welcomed the eviction order.
“I am very glad that this is finally happening, that the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is cleared of Moscow roots and it is renewed and comes to life,” said Yulia Sencuk, speaking outside the church. “By these very events we are more likely to bring our victory closer.”
Palm Sunday marks the last Sunday before Easter and signals the start of a holy week of prayer and reflections for Christians. The day celebrates Jesus Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, where it is believed he was welcomed with palm fronds on the road. Orthodox churches use different reference dates to calculate when Easter occurs, which can be up to four weeks later than the holiday marked by other branches of Christianity.
Instead of holding the symbolic palms, many held willow branches on Sunday in keeping with tradition in Ukraine.
Personnel of Ukraine’s Armed Forces were present, along with civilians, to mark the occasion in the church.
“It’s a very important holiday for me because it’s our tradition, and it’s about our peace, our independence, our belief in God, in peace, in our…victory,” said Irina, a servicewoman in attendance. She spoke on the condition her last name not be disclosed, in keeping with army protocols.
– SAMYA KULLAB, Kyiv, Ukraine/AP
Ukraine’s military reported Russian attacks and shelling throughout the front, with the heaviest fighting still focused on two cities in eastern Donetsk region – Bakhmut and Avdiivka. Russian forces have been besieging Bakhmut for months in the longest battle in more than a year of war.
Ukraine’s State Emergencies Service said a 50-year-old man and his daughter, 11, were killed after Russian forces struck a residential building in Zaporizhzhia, in the southeast.
A woman identified as the wife and mother of the victims was pulled from under the rubble.
“This is how the terrorist state marks Palm Sunday,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. “This is how Russia places itself in even greater isolation from the world.”
The President praised several units defending positions in the east and said he hoped Palm Sunday next year “will take place with peace and freedom for all our people”.
The majority of Ukraine’s 41 million people are Orthodox Christians who celebrate Easter a week from now.
Pope Francis, who has been critical of Russia’s war, prayed for peace during Easter events in the Vatican: “Help the beloved Ukrainian people on their journey towards peace, and shed the light of Easter upon the people of Russia.”
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had destroyed a depot containing 70,000 tonnes of fuel near Zaporizhzhia. It also said Russian forces had destroyed Ukrainian army warehouses storing missiles, ammunition and artillery in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.
Russian attacks repelled
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said more than 40 enemy attacks had been repelled over the past 24 hours.
It said Russian forces had launched unsuccessful advances on areas west of Bakhmut, now largely destroyed but with a pre-war population of 70,000. At least 10 towns and villages had come under Russian shelling.
The report said Russian forces also made no headway in attacks on Avdiivka, a second focus of fighting in the east, and reported widespread Russian shelling in northern regions. Officials in the south said Russian aircraft had used guided bombs against towns in Kherson region.
The military have said Ukrainian forces will keep defending Bakhmut against repeated Russian attacks, though Zelenskiy last week acknowledged that if troops risked being encircled they could be pulled back.
Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern military command, said on national television: “The enemy is trying to take our city-fortress at any cost.
“Although it is extremely difficult, we are still in control of the situation. Our units are holding back the enemy and inflicting a maximum of damage.”
Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said Russian forces controlled the centre of Bakhmut, with much of their actions now focusing on the city’s railway station.
