UOC-MP Primate Performed Memorial Litia at Tomb of Unknown Soldier and Attended Victory Parade
KYIV – The festivities dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War on May 9, 2010, began with a flower-laying ceremony and prayer at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Park of Eternal Glory, reports the website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate.
Taking part in the prayer and flower-laying ceremony were President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov, chairman of the Supreme Council of Ukraine Volodymyr Lytvyn, Veterans of the Great Patriotic War, officials, military personnel, and representatives of the clergy and general public. The memorial Litia was led by Metropolitan Volodymyr of the UOC-MP. Archpriest Roman Kosovskyi, a veteran of war, prayed by the side of Metropolitan Volodymyr.
On the same day in the Park of Glory a monument to thrice Hero of the Soviet Union aviation marshal Ivan Kozhedub was opened.
The primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate also attended the Victory Day Parade on Khreshchatyk.
May 9 is a day of prayerful commemoration of deceased soldiers in the liturgical calendar of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. On that day memorial services are performed in all the Orthodox churches of Ukraine to commemorate Victory Day.
