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Zelenskyy: God an ‘ ally’ to Ukraine
RUSSIA launched a barrage of drones targeted on eastern Ukraine, where the situation on the front line is worsening, as the country marked its third Easter at war.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians in an Easter address to be united in prayer and called God an “ally” in the war.
Ukraine’s air force said yesterday that Russia had launched 24 Shahed drones, of which 23 had been shot down by air defences.
Six people, including a child, were wounded in a drone strike in the eastern Kharkiv region, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Fires broke out when debris from drones that were shot down fell on buildings in the neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region. No casualties were reported.
Officials in Kyiv urged residents to follow Orthodox Easter services online due to safety concerns.
Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city administration, warned that “even on such bright days of celebration, we can expect evil deeds from the aggressor”.
Zelenskyy called on Ukrainians to unite in prayer for each other and soldiers on the front line.
In a video filmed in front of Kyiv’s Saint Sophia Cathedral, wearing a traditional, embroidered shirt, he said that God “has a chevron with the Ukrainian flag on his shoulder”.
With “such an ally”, he said, “life will definitely win over death”.
A majority of Ukrainians identify as Orthodox Christians.
In Moscow, worshippers including President Vladimir Putin packed the city’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral late on Saturday for an Easter service led by Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and an outspoken supporter of the Kremlin.