Zelenskyy calls on Ukrainians to unite in prayer on Orthodox Easter

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 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 will lead to life defeating death.''

"Let's pray for each other. When we all came closer to each other, we were no longer strangers to each other," Zelenskyy, dressed in a traditional embroidered Ukrainian shirt and his typical khaki pants, said in a lyrical video posted on the Telegram messaging app.

Standing in front of the 1,000-year-old Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, a spiritual and architectural monument of the country's faith, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has now been fighting for 802 days against Russia for a victory.

"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."

In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin attended an Easter service led by the head of Russia's Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, a staunch supporter of the Russian leader and his war in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy, 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 'cannot be broken' and who will, he added, see Ukraine free one day.

"Ukrainians kneel only in prayer," Zelenskyy said. "And never before invaders and occupiers."

Reuters