Despite his invoking of the Almighty, Zelensky has led a crackdown on the Orthodox Church for the last two years.
Ukrainians are God’s chosen people – ZelenskyAmid nationwide persecution of Orthodox Christians, the Ukrainian president claimed that God is his nation’s “ally”
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has proclaimed that God is an “ally” of Ukraine in the conflict with Russia.
As Orthodox Christians celebrated Easter on Sunday, Zelensky released a video address from Kiev’s Saint Sophia Cathedral, in which he accused Russia of “breaking all the commandments.”
Zelensky’s appeal to Christians came as Ukraine’s parliament examines legislation that would close down the country’s largest Christian church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). While the law has sat in parliament for months, Zelensky’s government has moved to restrict the Church’s activity since the conflict began in 2022.
Zelensky’s appeal to Christians came as Ukraine’s parliament examines legislation that would close down the country’s largest Christian church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). While the law has sat in parliament for months, Zelensky’s government has moved to restrict the Church’s activity since the conflict began in 2022.
“The world sees it, God knows it,” he said. “And we believe God has a chevron with the Ukrainian flag on his shoulder. So, with such an ally, life will definitely win over death.”
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has opened dozens of criminal cases against UOC priests, has sanctioned clerics, and stripped at least 19 bishops of their Ukrainian citizenship, according to TASS news agency. Church property has been seized, and monks evicted from the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, an ancient monastery and the most prominent Orthodox site in Ukraine.
The UOC has deep historical ties with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), which it renounced after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. Despite declaring autonomy from the ROC, Zelensky has accused the UOC of functioning as an “agent of Moscow,” and promoted the government-created Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) as its replacement.
- A non-canonical organization, the OCU was established by the government of President Pyotr Poroshenko after the US-backed coup in Ukraine in 2014.
Earlier this year, a group of lawyers wrote to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, warning him that banning the UOC could cause “serious harm to Orthodox Ukrainians” and have “dire ramifications for Ukraine’s entry into the European Union and its place in the Western world.”
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Easter Greetings by the President of Ukraine
5 May 2024 - 09:01
Great People of Great Ukraine!
Today we celebrate a significant holiday — the Resurrection of the Lord. Easter. Easter symbolizes the liberation of the human soul from the slavery of evil and darkness. It symbolizes the victory of goodness and justice, the victory of life over death.
We have been fighting for all of this for 802 days in a row.
We have been fighting for all of this for 802 days in a row.
- 802 days of freedom standing up to darkness, valor standing up to terror.
- 802 days of our resistance, which can be described by the words from the Gospel of John: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…"
- These are the icons on ammunition boxes.
- They are saturated with the smoke of our land and the spirit of our people.
- They are the symbols of great trials and great power that helps us overcome them.
- Each of these icons is like a divine manifestation, a proof that the heavens are with us, an answer to the question of why Ukrainians have withstood.
It is because in the most difficult circumstances and in the darkest times we are able to create light.
We can do it on boards scorched by fire and grief, that came from Ukrainian cities and villages exhausted by suffering.
We can do this by combining the seemingly incompatible: the war and the Lord, by overcoming evil with faith, overcoming adversity with hope.
When taking a closer look at these icons, one can understand the feelings of our entire nation. It's a mirror that reflects our reality in times of war, the path we have already taken, and this Easter, and our entire present.
- This is what our amulets look like today.
- This is how we feel that God is protecting us through the hands of our warriors.
- This is how we see the protection of the heavenly forces, embodied in the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine, every Ukrainian who devotes themself to the sacred cause of defending their native land from darkness and evil.
These icons bear the names of heroes who sacrificed their lives to protect us. They showed that Ukrainians kneel only to pray. And never do they kneel in front of invaders and occupiers.
The Bible teaches us to love our neighbor. And the present has shown us the true meaning of this word. When we support and help each other even hundreds of kilometers away from one another.
- We protect each other.
- We pray for each other.
- When we all have become closer to each other, we have become each other's neighbors.
God knows it. And we believe that there is a chevron with the Ukrainian flag on the shoulder of God. Therefore, with such an ally, life will definitely prevail over death.
As we overcome a common path and experience common pain, we are all united today by one common prayer.
As we overcome a common path and experience common pain, we are all united today by one common prayer.
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- We pray for all our warriors who are celebrating Easter in the trenches and on the positions.
- We pray for our warriors of light, who restrain demons in all directions.
- We pray for those who keep another commandment in their lives: to defend Ukraine.
- We pray that they all come back alive.
- We pray for all our civilians who work hard every day to strengthen our state and ensure that it successfully overcomes evil.
- We pray for those who live and work for this purpose.
- We pray for all our children, for all the boys and girls brave far beyond their years, whose childhood was stolen from them by Russia, but who, despite everything, have not forgotten how to smile and believe in miracles.
- We pray for all our mothers and fathers who were robbed of a happy, peaceful aging, and who, despite everything, are holding on and taking care of us.
- We pray for all our cities and villages, that should feel the Lord's grace, not the constant terror of evil, and which have black clouds hanging over them, and bombs and missiles coming from those who belong in hell, not in the Ukrainian sky.
- We pray for our lands and our people, whose spirit cannot be broken. And we remember the words written in St. Sophia Cathedral above the Oranta image, which came true in our lives: "God is in the midst of the city, and it will not be shaken. God will help it before dawn.”
- He will return with peace, tranquility, and flowers instead of mines in the fields.
- He will return with children's laughter instead of the roar of an air alarm.
May the heavens strengthen our will in the battle against thralldom.
May they give us courage for new achievements and wisdom to appreciate all that we have already gained.
May they give us the strength to maintain unity, and give us unity to enhance our strength. May God grant eternal rest to all those who gave their lives for Ukraine and everlasting peace to their descendants, to all our children and grandchildren, and to all our future generations.
They have the sacred right to know what a peaceful Easter in a peaceful Ukraine is.
Today we pray for it and we fight for it.
And the light shines in the darkness...
Today we pray for it and we fight for it.
And the light shines in the darkness...
Happy Easter to all of you, dear Ukrainians!
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed!
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