More than 100 Ukrainian POWs freed in Easter exchange with Russia, official says

More than 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been freed as part of a major Easter exchange with Russia, a senior official said on Sunday, as Orthodox Ukrainians marked the second religious holiday since Moscow launched a full-scale war more than a year ago. .

When the celebration was canceled due to security risks, with a curfew prohibiting the faithful from performing services at night, Ukrainian authorities and ordinary people shared a message of hope, linking the story of Jesus’ resurrection with the desire for peace and victory in Ukraine.

Dozens of families have a special reason to rejoice, as presidential adviser Andriy Yermak announced that 130 soldiers, sailors, border guards and others detained by Moscow are returning home after a “big Easter prisoner exchange.”

Yermak said in a post on the Telegram messaging service on Sunday that those released included troops fighting near Bakhmut, an eastern mining town that has been the focus of Russian attacks for months.

“The lives of our people are the highest value for us,” Yermak said, adding that Kyiv’s goal was to return all remaining POWs.

There was no immediate information on the number of Russian prisoners released, but the press service of the founder of the Wagner Group, a Kremlin-affiliated paramilitary force whose fighters are popular in eastern Ukraine, also released a video on Sunday showing Ukrainian prisoners of war. prepared for exchange.

The war disrupted the Easter routine

In his Easter speech released on Sunday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the holiday as a sign of “the victory of good, the victory of truth, the victory of life,” and he emphasized what he said was Ukraine’s unity in the face of Russian aggression. .

“Belief in victory unites all of us always, and especially today, on Easter, which from time immemorial has been a family holiday for Ukrainians, a day of warmth, hope and great unity. We are one big family – Ukrainians. We have one big house – Ukraine. We have one big goal – victory for all,” said Zelenskyy.

In central Kyiv, people gathered in the landmark courtyard of the Golden-Domed Monastery of St. Michael on Sunday morning to have Easter eggs and food baskets blessed by the priest. A curfew has prevented most from attending the traditional all-night service hours earlier, with many tuning into the livestream instead.

Ukrainian churches are usually crowded on Orthodox Easter Sunday. But this year, the vast courtyard was barely half full, and the line of people waiting for the priest to pour holy water into the decorated baskets was moving quickly.

For the second year in a row, war disrupted the holiday routine. Ukraine’s main security service this week issued a statement asking citizens to stay away from churches on Sundays, to avoid crowds and reduce security risks.

Prayers for the Ukrainian troops

Alla Voronina, one of the people who came to St. Michael, with a basket of Easter cakes and colorful eggs, said the ban was “very hard” on the spirits of residents.

“You constantly remember how it was before the war,” he told The Associated Press. He said he and his family will follow safety recommendations and return home immediately after receiving the blessing.

Another worshiper, Tetiana Voloshyna, said she was praying for the Ukrainian troops, “who defended us and made us able to have this holiday.” He added that he had come to the monastery with “a personal illness and a personal request to God for victory, peace and life.”

Russians also observe Easter, including President Vladimir Putin. They attended a midnight service at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow led by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, who has supported the war.

In a statement, Putin praised Kirill for his “selfless and selfless work aimed at preserving historical, spiritual, moral and family values, education and youth education.”

Kirill has repeatedly spoken out in support of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In a video message broadcast on Russian state television late Saturday, ahead of the start of Easter services in Moscow, Kirill lamented the “grave incident that happened in our historical land of Russia” in reference to the war, citing the Kremlin’s claim that Ukraine is independent. essentially fiction.

Churches were destroyed

Despite the shared Orthodox holiday, Russian missile attacks and missile attacks continue to wreak havoc in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian regional officials. Officials in the south and east of the country say churches have not been spared. The governor of eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhii Lysak, said Russian forces stationed at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant attacked a church in a nearby town, killing two civilians.

“Russians have once again confirmed that nothing is sacred,” Lysak said in an online post.

Earlier on Sunday, the governor of Zaporizhzhia province reported that a Russian attack overnight hit an Orthodox church in the town of Komyshuvakha. Photo shows local residents rescuing the icon from the church, the gutted frame visible in the background.

At least four civilians were killed and eight others wounded on Saturday and overnight, Ukrainian officials reported on Sunday morning. The national emergency service said the death toll in Friday’s attack in the city of Sloviansk had risen to 13 as more bodies were found in the rubble of an apartment building.

On the front lines, in the Russian-held region of Ukraine’s industrial east, the Kremlin-appointed head of the Donetsk region claimed that a Ukrainian attack killed one civilian and wounded six others in the provincial capital. Denis Pushilin wrote in a Telegram post that shots hit the center of the city, near the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday that an assault unit from the Wagner Group had captured two neighborhoods in the sacked city of Bakhmut. The former mining center, now in ruins, has been the main target of Russia’s grinding campaign for months in eastern Ukraine.