Believers queue to approach a priest as they attend the Orthodox Christmas Eve service in a chapel located in a former residential building in the town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
Worshippers in the eastern occupied Ukrainian town of Volnovakha on Friday marked the Russian Orthodox Christmas Eve in a makeshift chapel that was set up in a home after their church suffered shelling damage.
Vera Barda, 74, said the congregation had initially met in a tent after the church was hit during what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine.
"I offered the priest (my place) saying there was a stove and electricity, so it was warmer than in a tent ... he agreed at once and in three weeks we restored everything," she said.
Local resident Vera Barda, 74, stands outside a chapel located in her granddaughter's house during the Orthodox Christmas Eve service in the town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
During the service, carried out in a converted cramped room decked out in icons, an Orthodox priest dressed in a ceremonial white robe burned incense while the mainly elderly congregation made the sign of the cross.
(Reporting by Reuters, editing by David Ljunggren and Grant McCool)
Believers attend the Orthodox Christmas Eve service in a chapel located in a former residential building in the town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander ErmochenkoBelievers attend the Orthodox Christmas Eve service in a chapel located in a former residential building in the town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander ErmochenkoA believer lights candles during the Orthodox Christmas Eve service in a chapel located in a former residential building in the town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander ErmochenkoBelievers attend the Orthodox Christmas Eve service in a chapel located in a former residential building in the town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
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