Zelenskyy presented Pope Leo XIV with a special icon (photo)
According to the Ukrainian President, this icon is about Ukrainian children abducted by Russia during the war.
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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Pope Leo XIV / © Volodymyr Zelenskyy
During a meeting with Pope Leo XIV, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gifted the head of the Catholic Church an icon painted on a fragment of an ammunition crate.
The Ukrainian President announced this on his official Telegram channel, sharing a photo of the gift.
«For many nations, the image of a mother with a child is a symbol of life that must be protected. Today, we presented Pope Leo XIV with a special icon — „The Mother of God with Child,“ painted on a fragment of a crate from heavy artillery munitions brought from near Izyum, ” he wrote.
Icon of the «Mother of God with Child», painted on a fragment of an ammunition crate / © Volodymyr Zelenskyy
According to Zelenskyy, this icon represents the Ukrainian children who were deliberately abducted and deported by Russia during the war and who are eagerly awaited back home in Ukraine.
«We pray for the lives of all our deported children and hope for the Vatican’s support in this matter so that everyone — both children and Ukrainian prisoners — can return home, ” the Ukrainian President added.