Southeast Baltimore church holds prayer vigil to mark one-year anniversary of war in Ukraine
BALTIMORE -- To mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a Southeast Baltimore church held a vigil to pray for peace.
The vigil at St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church started at 6 p.m. on Friday.
Aside from wishes for peace, the service honored all Ukrainians who died during the first year of the war.
A couple of dozen people filled the pews inside St. Michael for the vigil. A lot of people who attended said they didn't think the war would go on this long.
Ihor Remsky, one of the church's trustees, said he and a lot of the church's other parishioners still have loved ones living in the country.
Remsky described to WJZ how life for his family had changed over the past year.
"My one cousin wears three different sets of clothing a day," he said. "One to go to work, one to come home and do her chores and everything around the house, and another outfit to sleep down in the cellar. Not in the bedroom in the house, but the cellar."
St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church also hosted a prayer service at 9 a.m. on Friday to commemorate the war's one-year anniversary.
These actions were comforting for some of the parishioners, but still, an end to the war feels far away for them.
However, they told WJZ they know Ukraine will persevere.
"The Ukrainian people, they're strong, they're resilient, they're not going to give up. They're not going to move," Jullie Humeniuk said. "You can see that with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He has reached out to everyone; the entire west is supporting Ukraine."
St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church also hosted a prayer service at 9 a.m. on Friday to commemorate the war's one-year anniversary. The parish plans to attend a demonstration for Ukraine in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.
Earlier this week, in an unannounced visit to the country's capital, Kyiv, President Joe Biden pledged around $500 million in aid to the war-torn country.
Also on Friday, the U.S. announced a new round of sanctions on Russia, mostly targeting money-making sectors, like banks.