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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Charlotte Higgins and Artem Mazhulin in Kyiv

Joy and tension as Kyiv marks Orthodox Easter without Moscow clergy

An Orthodox priest recites the prayer in Kyiv Pechersk Lavra before the Easter Sunday mass
An Orthodox priest recites the prayer in Kyiv Pechersk Lavra before the Easter Sunday mass. Photograph: Emre Çaylak/The Guardian

Dawn did not break over wartime Kyiv on Orthodox Easter Sunday. It was more that the darkness gradually paled, leaving the pinnacle of the 18th-century bell tower wreathed in a wan mist.

Soon after 5.30am, the faithful began to trickle into Dormition Cathedral, which stands at the heart of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, or Monastery of the Caves.

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