'Stop the shelling of cities and villages' during religious holidays, Ukrainian faith leaders plead (UCCRO)

The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) called upon Russian forces to “stop the shelling of cities and villages in Ukraine and to slow down offensive hostilities” during the celebration of Easter (April 24 on the Eastern calendar), Passover, and Ramadan.

“We are convinced that if there is a desire and goodwill, the Russian side, within the framework of the ongoing negotiation process and in contact with competent representatives of Ukraine, could reach agreements that would provide civilians of Ukraine the opportunity to meet and celebrate the next sacred days without shelling and risk to their lives,” the UCCRO said in its statement.

The UCCRO has 16 members, including the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), the Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and the Latin-rite Catholic bishop of Kyiv-Zhytomyr.