In his nightly address on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pondered the significance of the date. “Today was Holy Saturday for Eastern Rite Christians. The day between the crucifixion and the resurrection. It seems Russia is stuck on such a day,” he said.
“On the day when death triumphs and God is said to be gone. But there will be a resurrection. Life will conquer death. The truth will conquer all lies. And evil will be punished,” added Zelensky.
As fighting escalates in the south and east, many in Ukraine are turning to their faith for solace, while others are choosing to travel home from neighboring Poland to be with loved ones for Easter celebrations. “I’ve never been so happy in my life. When I finally saw my husband again on my first night here, I still felt like a dream,” Anna-Mariia Nykyforchyn, 25, told CNN from Lviv, a western city largely spared by the Russian attack. When war broke out, Nykyforchyn was nine months pregnant and was one of more than five million people to make the difficult call to leave. She returned two days ago with her baby Marharyta.
“It was extremely important for me to get home before Easter,” she says, before sharing her excitement at the prospect of the couple’s grandparents meeting the new addition to the family. “I really wanted us to be together. It’s such a glimmer of hope that everything will be fine.”
Perched on the sofa in her apartment in central Lviv, Nykyforchyn looks over at her 27-year-old husband Nazar, whose attention is fixed on the little girl napping on his lap.
“I had a very hard experience staying in Poland, both physically, because of the baby, and mentally. It was beyond difficult, unbearable,” she says.
“I moved into uncertainty: to strangers, to a strange house, to a city I’ve never been to, to a country with a language I’m not fluent in. I understood that I had to give birth there, a clinic where nobody knows me and where I did not make any agreements. I didn’t know what it would be like. But the main thought that kept me afloat was that my child must be born in safe conditions,” says Nykyforchyn.
Aware of his wife’s strain, Nazar chimes in: “She’s not just a woman, she’s a heroine… if I were in her place I wouldn’t be able… I would have broken down. And she didn’t collapse.”
While the proud father is clearly delighted to be reunited with his wife and daughter, this young family is among the fortunate. Not everyone will get an equal chance to see their loved ones again.
The Ukrainian government announced new curfews for the Easter weekend after authorities warned of possible increased Russian military activity during the holiday celebrations. And earlier this week, officials in the Luhansk and Sumy regions urged residents to attend virtual services, citing possible Russian “provocations” while noting that many churches were destroyed in the invasion.
Despite concerns, Lviv residents came to the city’s churches on Saturday for blessings of protection and prayer. At the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin, the faithful ignored orders to stay at home and instead lined up with decorated baskets of food ready to be blessed with holy water by the parish priests.
Volodymyr, 53, stands patiently alongside his family as they wait for the priest to make his way down the line.
“People often think that holidays should be joyful, bring relief and make it easier — and when they’re feeling good, they don’t turn to true faith…Now we’re going through hard times, people are starting to get closer to God , there are more people here than before, and that’s good for us,” he says, before showing us the homemade paska (a traditional Easter bread), sausage, ham and cheese between candles and decorative eggs in his basket.
“There was an air alert this morning but thank god it’s quieter now and we were able to come. It is very important for us. It’s the church we go to a lot,” he adds.
Nearby, 35-year-old church volunteer Andrii dutifully loads collection boxes with Easter food for Ukrainian troops. “We try to keep a celebratory mood and hope for justice and peace. This holiday, Easter, gives even more hope. We have to believe in victory just like we believe in Jesus Christ,” he says.
He points to the rapidly filling containers and adds: “They will be sent to the military units that protect our country. (The) boys should have a chance to eat paska and sausage.”
A gust of wind catches the beautifully embroidered cloth covering 35-year-old Maryanna’s cupcake. After reattaching it, she tells CNN that her family heeded the stay-at-home warnings.
“It’s scary and anxiety in my soul. There was a rocket attack in Odessa today… But we believe in God and we hope that everything will end in victory,” she says quietly.
As the priestess rounds the corner, her eyes dart back to her basket. “We received a notification from our city officials that people should stay home, but we can’t,” she continues. “How can we not bless the Easter bread? We missed it during a Covid pandemic – and now people desperately need the holiday.”
Nathan Hodge and Yulia Kesaieva of CNN in Lviv also contributed to this report.