On the occasion of Independence Day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska took part in a prayer for Ukraine held at Saint Sophia Cathedral.
Prayers were delivered by Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Epiphanius, Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Sviatoslav, Supreme Mufti of Ukraine, Sheikh Ahmed Tamim, Head of the Kyiv-Zhytomyr Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine Vitaliy Kryvytskyi, Head of the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists Valerii Antoniuk, Senior Bishop of the Ukrainian Church of the Christian Faith of Evangelical Christians Anatoliy Kozachok, and Deputy Secretary General of the Ukrainian Bible Society Anatoliy Raychynets.
Also present at the event were President of the Ukrainian Union Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church Roman Prodanyuk, Senior Bishop of the Ukrainian Christian Evangelical Church Serhii Lokshyn, Senior Bishop of the Ukrainian Evangelical Church Oleksandr Zaitsev, Bishop of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine Pavlo Shvarts, Bishop of the Ukrainian Diocese of Armenian Apostolic Church Marcos Hovhannisyan, Supreme Mufti of Crimea Ayder Rustemov, Representative of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine Avraham Elimelech Bleich, and Deputy Bishop of the Transcarpathian Reformed Church Vyacheslav Kliuchkey.
Representatives of foreign religious organizations also participated in the prayer for Ukraine, including American evangelical pastor of the Harvest Praise and Worship Center Mark Burns and Chief Operating Officer of Samaritan’s Purse Edward Graham.
The clergy prayed for peace, freedom, and prosperity for Ukraine; blessings for the Ukrainian people; the release of captives; the healing of the wounded; and strength and support for Ukraine’s defenders.
