Easter in the trenches - how Ukrainian defenders celebrate Resurrection of Christ under 'rashist' fire

Espreso.West journalist found out about the celebration at the front lines.

"Fighting continues every day, we don't prepare for the holiday", one of the servicemen in the East Ukraine, commented on the celebration of Easter, despite constant shelling. Two months ago, no one could even imagine that Ukraine would celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection of Christ during a large-scale invasion of the Russian horde.

"This year will be the first when I celebrate the holy holiday of the Resurrection of Christ without my family", wrote Svyatoslav Boyko on his Facebook page. He's a volunteer, a participant of the Maidan, and now a defender of the country.

"I won’t go to church for the first time, because there is a direct threat of churches' shelling during festive services, the commander will not let go. Perhaps the chaplain will come to us, but I'm not sure", continues Svyatoslav Boyko. "We are in a constantly shelled area. When in Kyiv, during the air raid alarm, you could sleep peacefully, because the air defense works, but it doesn’t work here. Every day we train and improve our skills. I don’t know what day of the week it is, but I know for sure that tomorrow we will work out. We are intensively improving ourselves. Former Svyatoslav remained in Kyiv, and here he is a fighter of the assault company of 206 armored personnel carriers, soldier Boyko. Everyone here is motivated. God bless everyone. Brothers and sisters, may God bless you all! Take care of each other and celebrate Easter with dignity!"

"We will find time to break an egg and smash a shell on the head of the Russian"

The guys didn't prepare for Easter. They didn't have time, because the Russians stepped up their offensive along the entire front line. Military experts say that the second phase of the Russian-Ukrainian war has begun. The volunteers, who have been tirelessly delivering everything necessary to the defenders for the ninth year, come to rescue. Easter is no exception. Earlier, every church, building and training center in Lviv and the region collected help for the front. Also, drivers manage to come and deliver the packages to the guys "at zero".

Andriy Botnar, a platoon technician for the control battalion of one of the brigades, is already at the front. He came to Lviv for a few hours and returned with a car full of treats. The military says that the guys will definitely find time to celebrate the holy holiday.

"I experienced more in this war in two months than in two years, when I was in 2014", Andriy Botnar notes. Then we could combine Easter painting and military service, we helped people. Today we have a completely different situation. Today we are at war, we have constant active hostilities. They get here, we beat them, and so constantly.  But I assure you we will celebrate in the spirit of Ukrainian Cossacks and Christianity. We, as believers, will find half an hour or ten minutes to pray, break an egg and smash a shell on the head of the Russian. By doing this we will celebrate and everything will be fine with us.

No one takes pity on the 'rashists', no one takes them prisoner, we have nowhere to keep them and what to feed them, and they eat a lot

The military says that now there are no days off in the war. Constant shelling, but the Ukrainian defenders are ruthless and heroically repulse Russian attacks.

"For the military every day is a working day", Andriy Botnar notes. "And now we have harvest time, a lot of Russians get on us, we have battles with them every day. However, this does not prevent us from celebrating. We brought them goodies, sausages made by lady Stefa. It’s hard for us, but we also worry about the fate of those who are in Mariupol now. It’s easier for us, because we can move back ten meters, then go forward 50. We counterattack, we have success. We hit Russians and they feel it. No one takes pity on the 'rashists', no one takes them prisoner, we have nowhere to keep them and what to feed them, and they eat a lot.

The support of people, volunteers, the feeling of comfort and home on the holy holiday of the Resurrection is important. Chaplain Andriy Fedenkiv, who has been on the front line for many years, says that for the guys Easter cake and sausages are like weapons. Defenders feel the gratitude and love that the hostesses put in during cooking.

"For them, Easter treats from the rear are like a talisman that helps them survive", says military chaplain Andriy Fedenkiv. "We have a tradition. We can taste Easter cake on Easter itself. We bless it on Saturday and keep it until Sunday. This is such a great honor for our traditions. We break it, like an Easter egg. We greet each other with prayer and we say "Christ is Risen! - Truly He is Risen!". All this is transferred to the front. The military feels great love and warmth".

Finally, I would like to ask those who are in the rear, in a relatively peaceful city: do not forget to remember the guys at the festive table who now cannot usually celebrate Easter. Some people are without family embraces not for the first time on the Feast of the Resurrection. However, the real Easter is in the trenches for most of the men in our country.