Greater than 100 Ukrainian prisoners of battle have been launched as a part of a serious Easter alternate with Russia, a prime official mentioned Sunday, as Orthodox Ukrainians marked the vacation for a second time since Moscow unleashed its brutal full-scale battle final February.

Whereas celebrations had been subdued attributable to safety dangers, with a curfew barring the devoted from customary all-night providers, Ukrainian authorities and strange folks shared messages of hope, linking the story of Jesus’ resurrection to their eager for peace and a Ukrainian victory.

Dozens of households had particular causes to rejoice, as presidential adviser Andriy Yermak introduced that 130 troopers, sailors, border guards and others captured by Moscow had been on their manner again house following a “massive Easter prisoner alternate.”

Yermak mentioned in a Telegram submit Sunday that these launched included troops who fought close to Bakhmut, the japanese mining metropolis which has for months been the main focus of Russia’s grinding offensive.

“The lives of our individuals are the best worth for us,” Yermak mentioned, including that Kyiv’s aim was to carry again all remaining POWs.

There was no instant data on what number of Russian prisoners had been launched, however the press service of the founding father of the Wagner Group, the Kremlin-affiliated paramilitary power whose fighters are distinguished in japanese Ukraine, additionally launched a video Sunday exhibiting Ukrainian prisoners of battle being readied for an alternate.

The video, revealed on the Telegram messaging service, options Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin instructing a soldier to organize the Ukrainian captives to go away Russian-controlled territory “by lunchtime” on Sunday. The POWs are then proven boarding vans and strolling alongside a street.

In his Easter deal with launched on Sunday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the vacation as marking “the victory of excellent, the victory of reality, the victory of life,” and he burdened what he mentioned was Ukrainian unity within the face of Russian aggression.

“Perception in victory unites all of us at all times, and particularly in the present day. At Easter, which from time immemorial has been a household vacation for Ukrainians, a day of heat, hope and nice unity. We’re one massive household — Ukrainians. We’ve one massive house — Ukraine. We’ve one massive aim — victory for all,” Zelenskyy mentioned.

Ukraine’s prime soldier, Gen. Valery Zaluzhnyy, likewise drew parallels between the Christian message of resurrection and renewal and Ukraine’s hopes for victory.

“Easter is a vacation of nice hope. Hope that can carry us peace. I imagine that collectively, united, we are going to overcome the enemy,” he wrote in a Fb submit. He additionally thanked all front-line troopers who he mentioned will “maintain the protection within the trenches, keep within the dugouts, (…) perform fight responsibility” as the remainder of the nation celebrates.

In central Kyiv, folks gathered within the courtyard of the landmark St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery on Sunday morning to have their Easter eggs and baskets of meals blessed by a priest. A curfew had prevented most from attending the normal all-night service there hours earlier, with many tuning right into a reside stream as an alternative.

Ukrainian church buildings are often crowded on Orthodox Easter Sunday. However this yr, the large courtyard was barely half full, and the road of individuals ready for the priest to sprinkle holy water on their adorned baskets was transferring briskly.

For a second yr in a row, Moscow’s brutal battle has interrupted vacation routines. Ukraine’s essential safety service this week issued a press release urging residents to not linger in church buildings on Sunday, so as to keep away from crowding and decrease safety dangers.

Alla Voronina, one of many individuals who got here to St. Michael’s with baskets containing Easter truffles and multi-colored eggs, mentioned that the restrictions had been “very arduous” on residents’ morale.

“You consistently recall the way it was earlier than the battle,” she advised The Related Press. She mentioned that she and her household would however observe the safety suggestions and go straight house after receiving the blessing.

Others within the line echoed Zaluzhnyy’s phrases a few wartime Easter being a logo of hope.

“As by no means earlier than, Easter at a time of battle conjures up us with hope and religion sooner or later, within the victory of Ukraine, in God’s safety of our Motherland,” mentioned Inna Holivets.

One other worshipper, Tetiana Voloshyna, mentioned she was praying for Ukrainian troops “who defend us and make it attainable for us to have this vacation.” She added she had come to the monastery along with her “private ache and private requests to God for victory, peace and life.”

Regardless of the shared Orthodox vacation, Russian shelling and missile assaults continued to sow destruction in Ukraine, based on social media statements from Ukrainian regional officers. Officers within the nation’s south and east mentioned that church buildings had not been spared. The governor of the japanese Dnipropetrovsk area, Serhii Lysak, claimed in a Telegram replace that Russian forces stationed at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant shelled a church in a close-by city, wounding two civilians.

“The Russians have as soon as once more confirmed that they maintain nothing sacred,” Lysak mentioned in his submit. He didn’t instantly present proof of the strike or its penalties.

Earlier on Sunday, the top of the native navy administration in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia province reported that Russian shelling in a single day hit an Orthodox church within the city of Komyshuvakha. Images confirmed native residents rescuing icons from the church, its gutted body seen within the background.

At the least 4 civilians had been killed and eight others had been wounded on Saturday and in a single day, Ukrainian officers reported on Sunday morning.

Throughout the entrance line, in Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine’s industrial east, the Kremlin-appointed head of the Donetsk area claimed {that a} Ukrainian strike killed one civilian and wounded six others within the province’s namesake capital. Denis Pushilin wrote in a Telegram submit that shelling hit the middle of the town, close to its Holy Transfiguration cathedral.

Neither Pushilin’s declare nor these from Ukrainian authorities concerning the civilian loss of life toll might be independently verified.