Video from AP Archives
Kyiv residents pray for peace as invasion fears build
"(20 Feb 2022) Kyiv residents gathered at St. Michael's monastery on Sunday to pray for peace as fears of a Russian invasion grew. Priests of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine across the country are conducting a special prayer service. It came as hundreds of artillery shells exploded along the contact line between Ukrainian soldiers and Russia-backed separatists, and thousands of people evacuated eastern Ukraine. "We pray at home and go to church because we hope that God will see that we deserve (peace), and there will be no war," said one congregation member. “We go to church for this, to pray for Ukraine. And we believe that our joint prayers will help to elude this tragedy which is advancing,” added another. Western leaders warned that Russia was poised to attack its neighbor, which is surrounded on three sides by about 150,000 Russian soldiers, warplanes and equipment. Russia held nuclear drills Saturday in neighboring Belarus and has ongoing naval drills off the coast in the Black Sea. The United States and many European countries have alleged for months that Russia is trying to create pretexts to invade. They have threatened massive, immediate sanctions if it does. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to choose a place to meet where the two leaders could meet to try to resolve the crisis. Russia has denied plans to invade." from video introduction.
Let each of us in our prayers today include these souls in our prayers before the Throne of Grace!!