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They’ve been through intense battles, brutal airstrikes, and unimaginable loss, but this weekend, many Ukrainians will attempt to celebrate Orthodox Easter, one of their most important holidays of the year. This Sunday, traditionally a day of reflection and rebirth, will also mark exactly two months since the nation was thrust into a devastating war after Russian forces decided to invade on February 24.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reflected on the significance of the date in his nightly address on Saturday. “For Eastern Rite Christians, today was Holy Saturday. The day that occurred between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Russia appears to be stuck on such a day “He stated.
On the day when death successes and God is said to have vanished. However, there will be a Resurrection. Death will be defeated by life. Any lie will be defeated by the truth. And evil will be punished,” Zelensky added.
As the fighting in the south and east intensifies, many Ukrainians are turning to their faith for solace, while others are returning home from neighbouring Poland to be with loved ones for Easter celebrations.
“I’ve never been happier in my life.” “When I finally saw my husband again, on my first night here, I still felt as though this is a dream,” Anna-Mariia Nykyforchyn, 25, tells CNN from Lviv, a western city largely untouched by the Russian assault.
Nykyforchyn was nine months pregnant when the war broke out, and she was one of more than five million people who made the difficult decision to flee. She returned two days ago with her infant daughter Marharyta.
“It was extremely important for me to return home before Easter,” she says, before expressing her excitement at the prospect of the couple’s grandparents meeting the new addition to the family. “I was desperate for us to be together. It’s such a ray of hope that everything will be fine.”
Nykyforchyn, perched on the sofa in her apartment in central Lviv, casts a glance over at her 27-year-old husband Nazar, whose gaze is fixed on the tiny, infant girl napping on his lap.
