The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine received a letter signed by Metropolitan Onufriy (Berezovsky), the Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). He requested the authorities to lift the curfew on the night of April 23-24 in order "the Orthodox people to celebrate the Resurrection in accordance with tradition."
The Religious Front of Ukraine informed about this and had a copy of this letter at its disposal.
"It is known that other central authorities of Ukraine received letters like this. That is to say, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is trying to "activate" all its supporters and believers in various institutions to achieve a favorable result," the newspaper informed.
"This year we are preparing for Easter in the difficult conditions of the Russian Federation's armed aggression against Ukraine. A large number of people have already died, including women and children, towns and villages were destroyed, including religious buildings, and many settlements are suffering from humanitarian catastrophe. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate, ed.) denounces the war against Ukraine, "Metropolitan Onufriy (Berezovsky) indicated in a letter to the Ukrainian government.
To remind, the occupiers are spreading information about the "shelling of Orthodox churches on Easter night by nationalists." This is supposed to happen in 5 regions: Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy and Kharkiv. In connection with this, Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kyiv and All Ukraine blessed to change the time of prayer service for Easter.
Before, the Ministry of Culture reminded the believers of the importance of compliance with martial law, including curfew rules and invited to pray online for Easter.
The National Police requested to keep the curfew on Easter and assured that law enforcement officers would make every effort to guarantee the safety of the citizens. But the local authorities in several regions, including Odesa and the Odesa region, have decided to lift the curfew from 22:00 on 23 April to 5:00 on 24 April in connection with the celebration of Easter.