Zelensky comes to pray at the Lavra
Zelensky with his wife and Yermak in the Assumption Cathedral of the Lavra. Photo: Office of the President
On November 22, 2025, an ecumenical religious ceremony dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Holodomor was held in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv–Pechersk Lavra. The event was attended by President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife, Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, Director of the Lavra Reserve Svitlana Kotliarevska, Director of the Institute of National Memory Oleksandr Alferov, and other prominent state figures.
Ukrainian religious leaders of various denominations also took part in the ceremony. Among those who delivered remarks during the service were OCU head Serhiy Dumenko, UGCC head Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Evangelical Christians-Baptists Valerii Antoniuk, Crimean Mufti Ayder Rustemov, Bishop Marcos Ohanesian of the Armenian Church, and RCC Bishop Oleksandr Yazlovetsky.
After the ceremony, its participants, led by the Zelensky couple, walked from the Lavra to the Holodomor Memorial, where they laid sheaves of wheat.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to Fr. Vadym Novinskyi, Zelensky has no moral right to remain in office as president.
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