{"id":7399,"date":"2024-05-05T16:47:40","date_gmt":"2024-05-05T16:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=7399"},"modified":"2024-05-05T16:47:40","modified_gmt":"2024-05-05T16:47:40","slug":"ukrainians-celebrate-orthodox-easter-again-under-threat-of-russian-weapons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=7399","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainians celebrate Orthodox Easter again under threat of Russian weapons\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>For a third year in a row, Ukrainians observed their Easter Sunday as Russian troops advanced in eastern Ukraine, particularly around the strategic town of Chasiv Yar, while Kyiv&#8217;s troops wait for U.S. military aid that would help them push back Russian forces.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the imminent Russian threat, residents in Kostiantynivka, 15 kilometers southwest of Chasiv Yar, attended the Orthodox Easter liturgy.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We came in 2022 and in 2023, and we&#8217;ll come again,&#8221; said Natalia Hryhorieva, 58, outside an Orthodox church as she waited for a priest to bless her Easter basket with holy water.<\/p>\n<p>In the background, cannon fire bellowed. The priest decried the &#8220;Godless&#8221; enemy and led a prayer for Ukraine&#8217;s victory.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wsw__embed\">\n<figure class=\"media-image js-media-expand\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n<div class=\"thumb\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A priest sprays holy water on believers during the Orthodox Easter service in front of a church in the town of Kostiantynivka, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near a front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine, May 5, 2024.\" src=\"https:\/\/gdb.voanews.com\/01000000-0aff-0242-3c1d-08dc6d21106f_w250_r0_s.jpg\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"ico ico-fullscreen ico--media-expand ico--rounded\"\/>\n<\/div><figcaption>\n<span class=\"caption\">A priest sprays holy water on believers during the Orthodox Easter service in front of a church in the town of Kostiantynivka, amid Russia&#8217;s attack on Ukraine, near a front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine, May 5, 2024.<\/span><br \/>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Kostiantynivka, a key Ukrainian city in the industrialized Donetsk region, could be next in line to face a Russian onslaught if Chasiv Yar falls, analysts have said.<\/p>\n<p>In an Easter message from Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Ukrainians to unite in prayer for each other and soldiers on the front line, saying God has a &#8220;Ukrainian flag on his shoulder.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s pray for each other. When we all came closer to each other, we were no longer strangers to each other,&#8221; he said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app.<\/p>\n<p>Standing in front of the 1,000-year-old Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine has now been fighting for 802 days against Russia for a victory.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wsw__embed\">\n<figure class=\"media-gallery-embed overlay-wrap js-media-expand\" data-lbox-gallery=\"true\" data-lbox-gallery-url=\"\/a\/in-photos-orthodox-easter\/7598583.html\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/in-photos-orthodox-easter\/7598583.html\" title=\"In photos: Orthodox Easter throughout the world \" class=\"img-wrap\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"thumb thumb16_9\"><br \/>\n<noscript class=\"nojs-img\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gdb.voanews.com\/01000000-0aff-0242-8355-08dc6d04bac7_cx0_cy7_cw0_w250_r1_s.jpg\" alt=\"In photos: Orthodox Easter throughout the world \"\/><br \/>\n<\/noscript><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gdb.voanews.com\/01000000-0aff-0242-8355-08dc6d04bac7_cx0_cy7_cw0_w250_r1_s.jpg\" alt=\"In photos: Orthodox Easter throughout the world \"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"ico ico-gallery ico--media-type ico--xl\"\/><br \/>\n<span class=\"ico ico-gallery ico--media-expand ico--rounded\"\/><br \/>\n<\/a><figcaption class=\"d-flex flex-wrap overlay-content\">\n<span class=\"label label--media label--inverted m-l-sm\">Photo Gallery:<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"title title--media title--inverted m-l-sm\">In photos: Orthodox Easter throughout the world <\/h4>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin attended an Easter service led by the head of Russia&#8217;s Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, a staunch supporter of the Russian leader and Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Eastern Orthodox Christians usually celebrate Easter later than Catholic and Protestant churches, because they use a different calendar for calculating the date of what they believe is Christ\u2019s resurrection.<\/p>\n<p>The Russian defense ministry said Sunday its forces seized the village of Ocheretyne with a prewar population of 3,000, in Donetsk. Russian troops have been pummeling Kyiv\u2019s ammunition-depleted forces with artillery, drones and bombs.<\/p>\n<p>Ukraine\u2019s Kharkiv and Dnipro regions also were hit by Russian drones Saturday. At least six people were injured, including a 13-year-old, when the drones struck commercial and residential buildings, regional officials said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wsw__embed\">\n<figure class=\"media-image js-media-expand\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n<div class=\"thumb\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Local residents walk near an apartment building damaged by a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, May 5, 2024.\" src=\"https:\/\/gdb.voanews.com\/01000000-0aff-0242-dd5e-08dc6d1f3ecc_w250_r1_s.jpg\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"ico ico-fullscreen ico--media-expand ico--rounded\"\/>\n<\/div><figcaption>\n<span class=\"caption\">Local residents walk near an apartment building damaged by a Russian air strike, amid Russia&#8217;s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, May 5, 2024.<\/span><br \/>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Ukrainian air force said it downed 23 out of 24 Shahed drones targeting the regions again Sunday, with the debris from the falling drones in Ukraine\u2019s second-largest city of Kharkiv striking civilian targets, injuring four people and causing a fire in an office building that has been brought under control, the regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said in a post on Telegram.<\/p>\n<p>Ten more people were wounded in an airstrike Sunday afternoon on the Kharkiv regional capital, also called Kharkiv, Syniehubov said.<\/p>\n<p>Fires broke out when debris from the drones that were shot down fell on buildings in the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region. No casualties were reported.<\/p>\n<p>Russian state news agency RIA reported Saturday that Russian forces targeted a drone warehouse overnight in Kharkiv that it said had been used by Ukrainian troops. The state media cited Sergei Lebedev, a self-described coordinator of local pro-Moscow guerrillas.<\/p>\n<p>His comments could not be independently verified, The Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Russia is lashing out at NATO&#8217;s four-month-long military exercises, known as Steadfast Defender. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement Saturday that NATO\u2019s exercises close to Russia\u2019s borders are proof that the Western alliance is preparing for a potential conflict with Russia.<\/p>\n<p>Zakharova dismissed NATO accusations that Russia is engaged in hybrid attacks on NATO member states, calling them misinformation aimed at distracting people from the alliance&#8217;s activities.<\/p>\n<p>The Kremlin also criticized as dangerous some comments by British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and French President Emmanuel Macron that indicated their countries\u2019 direct involvement in Ukraine\u2019s war against Russia.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is a direct escalation of tension around the Ukrainian conflict, which could potentially pose a danger to European security, to the entire European security architecture,&#8221; Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday at a news briefing.<\/p>\n<p>During a visit to Kyiv, Cameron told Reuters that Ukraine has the right to strike in self-defense. \u201cJust as Russia is striking inside Ukraine, you can quite understand why Ukraine feels the need to make sure it&#8217;s defending itself,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>In a separate interview Thursday, Macron repeated an earlier comment of his that he doesn\u2019t exclude sending troops to Ukraine, an act that Russia said, would lead to a direct and dangerous escalation of tensions around the conflict.<\/p>\n<p><em>Some information for this report was provided by Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/ukrainians-celebrate-orthodox-easter-again-under-threat-of-russian-weapons-\/7598731.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For a third year in a row, Ukrainians observed their Easter Sunday as Russian 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