War on everyone’s mind. As Orthodox Christmas is celebrated this Saturday, 150 worshipers gathered for a Friday evening prayer at Saint-Alexandre-Nevsky Cathedral in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. Among them, Russians and Ukrainians, all of whom, without animosity towards each other, call for an end to the conflict that began last February.
“We need a prayer for the people who are suffering in the Ukraine,” Tatiana, a Russian from Paris, assures our camera.
Proof of this friendship despite the current situation, the testimony of Mikaelo, a Ukrainian student in France for eight months to escape the Russian invasion, who assures that his country has “a lot of help, especially from this church and the Orthodox community “. Russian.”
No politics, but with some criticism.
For this first Christmas celebrated since the beginning of the war, it was possible to fear a certain animosity between the members of the two communities. Not so, assures BFMTV Alexandre Jevakhoff, butler of the cathedral.
“The people of the parish are there to pray for the birth of Christ, the rest is out of the religious context and environment. I know that there are probably people within the parish who have a political position, but there are no debates within the church, this is not the place”, she underlines.
In our chamber, some participants in this emotionally charged mass nevertheless indulge in political commentary.
“All our hearts are with the Ukrainian people, for the people who suffer for nothing, for a cause that one man has decided. This war should not have taken place,” insists Anna, a Russian who has lived in France for 15 years. . .
A “cynical” ceasefire
On the ground, artillery duels continued on Friday in Bakhmout, the frontline hotspot in eastern Ukraine, and shelling in other areas despite Moscow’s announcement of a 36-hour unilateral ceasefire. , and as the United States promised massive new military aid to Kyiv .
The United States said Friday’s attacks in eastern Ukraine demonstrated that the ceasefire announced by Vladimir Putin for Orthodox Christmas it was a “cynical” move.
Source: BFM TV
