More than 300 dead in one strike! The word “CHILDREN” painted in large Cyrillic letters on the ground to let Russians know that children were sheltered there did not deter their bombing of the Donetsk Regional Theater of Drama on March 16, according to CNN. Up to 1,300 individuals had sought refuge there in Mariupol.
One Mariupol resident, Liubov, age 61, shared a picture of her apartment block destroyed by shelling. “On some days (there were) 50 planes, on other days 70, each carrying two bombs,” she told the BBC. “They were hitting the drama theatre, museums, hotels, apartment buildings. They didn’t discriminate at all.”
The mayor of Mariupol said that roughly 31,000 residents have been deported “at gunpoint” and sent to Russian “filtration camps” in occupied eastern Ukraine, FOX News reported.
Russian forces entered Bucha, north of Kyiv, on Feb. 27 and withdrew on April 4 leaving behind more than 300 dead civilians, some with hands tied behind their backs and a gunshot wound to the head. At a mass grave in Bucha, people cried as they tried to find the bodies of lost loved ones in the grounds of a church, according to a CNN team at the scene. Bucha residents indicated that bodies were first buried there during the initial days of the war and that at least 150 have been buried there, most of them civilians (CNN). Radio Free Europe reported April 10 that a mass grave containing dozens of civilian bodies had been found in the village of Buzova near Kyiv.
Stories of other atrocities abound: Women and girls as young as 14 being raped, individuals being burned to death or bodies burned after being raped or killed to cover up the war crimes, tanks rolling over cars to crush drivers and passengers within, decapitations, severed limbs. Kopachov, a Ukrainian dog breeder, was in mourning. His 33-year-old daughter, her boyfriend, and a friend were shot and killed by Russian troops. They had fired a party streamer toward Russian soldiers in an act of defiance not with intent to harm them. And for that they were killed (Reuters).
An estimated 4,000 civilians crowded the Kramatorsk train station on Friday, April 8, hoping to board a train bound for somewhere safer. At approximately 10:30 the station was bombed. Fifty-two people were killed, including five children; 100 more were injured. Bodies were found in burning cars parked at the station (BBC). Of the injured, 16 were children. Photos showed the remnants of a rocket with “For the children” scrawled in Russian in white paint (USA Today). Were they implying that Russian efforts were intended to save Ukrainian children or was it a more sinister warning that children were targets?
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack. He said on Instagram shortly thereafter: “Lacking the strength and courage to stand up to us on the battlefield, they are cynically destroying the civilian population” (BBC). Statistica Research Department reports that since the war began 1,656 Ukrainians have been killed (136 children) and 2,311 have been injured (207 children).
I wonder as we find ourselves in what Christian tradition tells us is the most holy week of the year how faith in a higher power will serve the Ukrainian people. How many Ukrainian families will have the opportunity to celebrate Easter as they have in the past? Electricity, gas, water, and telecommunications are non-existent in many places. Food is scarce. Stores and shops have been destroyed or are closed. Displaced Ukrainians are sheltering in subways, basements, and underground garages with little food and minimal means of preparing it.
So many residents have been killed and injured and captured. Many more have been displaced. As reported on April 8 by the office of the United Nations High Commissoner for Refugees, the world’s leading organization aiding and protecting refugees across the globe, 4,441,663 refugees have fled Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. That’s like nearly the entire population of Kentucky evacuating the state.
What will Easter celebrations in Ukraine look like this year? The majority of the Ukrainian population (67.3 percent) ascribes to Orthodox Christianity. The Orthodox Church has much in common with other Christian Churches including the belief that God revealed himself in Jesus Christ and belief in the incarnation of Christ, his crucifixion, and resurrection. Because they follow the Julian calendar, they will be celebrating Easter a week after those of us who follow the Gregorian calendar, celebrate it. (You’ll find many interesting details about the two calendars if you do a little searching.)
In Ukraine at Easter, food becomes more than sustenance for the body. Food becomes holy. Families take fat loaves of Paska, Easter bread, to church in baskets with dyed eggs and non-Lenten foods (sausage, cheese, lard, and ham) to be blessed at the Easter mass. Those are the traditional Ukrainian Easter baskets. Some families leave pieces of the holy bread on the graves of their loved ones. Much of the Paska accompanies sumptuous holiday meals.
The site BilingualKidsRock describes two kinds of Ukrainian colored eggs: Krashanky and Pysanka. Hard-boiled eggs that are dyed and meant for eating at the Easter feast are known as Krashanky. Sounds like our traditional Easter eggs. Pysanka are hand-painted. Beeswax is used to trace elaborate designs on raw eggs that are then dipped in dyes or painted. The dipping process can be repeated many times (moving from the lightest dye to darkest), creating an intricate and layered pattern. So that they can be preserved, the raw egg is drained through a tiny drilled hole. These Pysanka are Ukraine’s most famous cultural product. (You really do need to check out pictures of these online.)
A popular Ukrainian Easter activity for children and the young at heart is known as “egg battles.” Two people wrap their dyed kranshanky eggs together. If someone’s eggshell breaks, that person is out of the game. The unbroken egg continues to battle the next challenger (kievcheck-in.com).
Here’s the thing: How will Ukrainians celebrate Easter this year? I want to believe Orthodox Christian Ukrainians will find ways to celebrate Easter and their faith in the risen Lord. I want to believe that they and those of other beliefs will find reasons to have hope that the atrocities will end and their nation will begin to heal and rebuild. I want future battles in Ukraine, and throughout the world, to involve only dyed eggs.
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Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of articles written by a group of retired and current teachers — Ken Ballinger, Billy Kreigh, Marianne Darr-Norman, and Anna Spalding. Their intent is to spur discussions at the dinner table and elsewhere. You may also voice your thoughts and reactions via The News-Banner’s letters to editor.
