Kyiv's archbishop objected to a shared Good Friday cross plan
A look back at the Vatican procession dispute, alongside the reports on the cruiser Moskva that surrounded 19 April 2022.
What was Ukraine's envoy to the Vatican objecting to as of 19 April 2022? Days earlier, on 15 April, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Ukraine's ambassador to the Vatican and Archbishop of Kyiv, had condemned a Vatican plan for a Ukrainian woman and a Russian woman to carry the cross together during a Good Friday procession.
He opposed what was presented as an idea of reconciliation, arguing that Ukraine was still suffering from a war launched by Russia.
The naval story in the background
The same week was dominated by reports on the Russian cruiser Moskva. On 13 April, Ukrainian officials and the US Department of Defense said two Neptune cruise missiles had struck the ship in the Black Sea. Russia's Ministry of Defence, as reported by Russian state media, said the crew had been evacuated after a fire detonated ammunition on board. Both sides agreed the vessel had caught fire.
On 14 April the Moskva sank. Russia's navy had tried to tow it to Sevastopol, but it went down before reaching port. It was reported to be the largest warship sunk in combat since the Second World War, and new information indicated it had taken part in the 25 February attack on Snake Island.
Also on 14 April, protesters in the United States projected the Ukrainian flag onto the wall of the Russian embassy in Washington. The embassy responded with floodlights in an attempt to obscure the image.
