Reuters reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned Russian air strikes on Orthodox Palm Sunday. Also ,including an attack that killed a father and daughter at their house in the city of Zaporizhzhia.
The Ukrainian military reported that Russian forces carried out strikes and shelling across the front, with the most intense fighting occurring in two cities in the eastern Donetsk region: Bakhmut and Avdiivka.
Russian forces have besieged Bakhmut for months, making it the longest struggle in over a year of conflict.
Russian soldiers struck a residential building in Zaporizhzhia, resulting in the death of a 50-year-old man and his 11-year-old daughter. The victims’ wife and mother was rescued from the rubble, according to reports.
Zelenskyy said, “This is how the terrorist state celebrates Palm Sunday. This is how Russia further isolates itself from the rest of the world.”
He expressed hope that Palm Sunday next year “will take place with peace and freedom for all our people.”
The vast majority of Ukraine’s 41 million citizens are Orthodox Christians who will celebrate Easter in a week.
“Help the beloved Ukrainian people on their journey towards peace, and shed the light of Easter upon the people of Russia,” said Pope Francis. Notably, he has also been critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced the destruction of a 70,000-tonne fuel stockpile near Zaporizhzhia. It further claimed that Russian soldiers destroyed Ukrainian army facilities in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk that included missiles, ammunition, and artillery, reported Reuters.
