President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on his fellow Ukrainians on Orthodox Easter on Sunday to unite in prayer for each other and the soldiers on the frontline, saying God \u2014 who has a \u201cUkrainian flag on his shoulder\u201d \u2014 will lead to life defeating death.
\n\u201cLet\u2019s pray for each other. When we all came closer to each other, we were no longer strangers to each other,\u201d Zelenskiy, dressed in a traditional embroidered Ukrainian shirt \u2014 vyshyvanka \u2014 and his typical khaki pants, said in a lyrical video posted on the Telegram messaging app.
\nStanding in front of the 1,000-year-old Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, a spiritual and architectural monument of the country\u2019s faith, Zelenskiy said that Ukraine has now been fighting for 802 days against Russia for a victory.
\n\u201cAnd we believe: God has a chevron with the Ukrainian flag on his shoulder. So with such an ally, life will definitely win over death.\u201d
\nOrthodox Christians, including the Orthodox Church in Ukraine and Russia, celebrate Easter this weekend, while most Western churches observed the major holiday on March 31.
\nIn Moscow, President Vladimir Putin attended an Easter service led by the head of Russia\u2019s Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, a staunch supporter of the Russian leader and his war in Ukraine.
\nTens of thousands have been killed and millions driven from their homes since Putin ordered the invasion of Russia\u2019s smaller neighbour in February 2022. The war, now in its third year has no end in sight.
\nZelenskiy, who is Jewish, called for prayers first for all the soldiers who will be celebrating Easter in the trenches, so they will return home alive, and for the land and people, whose spirit \u201ccannot be broken\u201d and who will, he added, see Ukraine free one day.
\n\u201cUkrainians kneel only in prayer,\u201d Zelenskiy said. \u201cAnd never before invaders and occupiers.\u201d
\n(Reuters)Prayer. Ukrainians, Orthodox Easter, prayer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to unite in prayer on Orthodox Easter, asking for prayers for soldiers on the frontline. Zelenskiy believes that God, who he says has a “Ukrainian flag on his shoulder,” will ensure that life triumphs over death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1521,4670,233,2692,4166,2515,2133,296,2121,7776,3091,8946,8947,4843,154,19,4441,6803,6804,17,1180,8945,4560,2389,1357,20,293,3306,6305,18],"class_list":["post-10716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-1521","tag-chevron","tag-church","tag-death","tag-easter","tag-february","tag-holiday","tag-kyiv","tag-land","tag-march","tag-moscow","tag-orthodox-easter","tag-prayer","tag-president","tag-putin","tag-russia","tag-service","tag-telegram","tag-telegram-messaging-app","tag-ukraine","tag-ukrainian","tag-ukrainians","tag-victory","tag-video","tag-vladimir-putin","tag-volodymyr-zelenskiy","tag-war","tag-war-in-ukraine","tag-who","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n