In the Eastern Orthodox Christian calendar, Sunday was the 'Day of Forgiveness'. But Ukrainians suffering the consequences of Russia’s invasion say that this year they cannnot forgive. FRANCE 24's Gulliver Cragg reports from Lviv, the Western Ukrainian city teeming with those who have escaped the fighting further east.
Today, many Ukrainians are recasting the crimes of the Soviet regime as essentially crimes of Russians against Ukrainians.
“All Ukrainians can find a story, if they look back over their family tree, of some member who was executed. People who remember this know that you can’t expect anything good from the Russians,” says Vera, a graphic designer originally from Enerhodar.
It is Forgiveness Sunday in the Eastern Orthodox Christian calendar, but Father Andriy is convinced there is no need to forgive Putin.
“It’s in the book of Deuteronomy: 'Cursed be he who violates the territory of his neighbor'. We might pray for the Russian people, as lost people. But not for those who are directing this war, no. God forbid,” says the priest.
"How can we ever forgive them for this," says Nadezhda, a florist who fled Dnipro, Ukraine's fourth largest city. "No, there is no such forgiveness. Of course not. Never."
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