Was reconciliation the right gesture? Ukraine's envoy to the Vatican objected
A look back at the Good Friday procession dispute and other society-related reports around 19 April 2022.
Was a joint cross-bearing by a Ukrainian and a Russian woman a gesture of peace, or a premature one? As of 19 April 2022, that question had been raised by Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Ukraine's ambassador to the Vatican and Archbishop of Kyiv, who on 15 April condemned the Vatican's plan for the Good Friday procession.
He objected to what was presented as an idea of reconciliation while Ukraine was still suffering from the war launched by Russia.
Other reports from the preceding days
The days before 19 April were also marked by developments at sea and abroad. On 13 April, Ukraine said it had hit the Russian cruiser Moskva with two Neptune cruise missiles in the Black Sea, according to Ukrainian officials and the US Department of Defense. Russia's Ministry of Defence, as reported by Russian state media, said instead that the ship had been evacuated after a fire detonated ammunition on board. Both sides confirmed that the vessel had caught fire.
On 14 April, the Moskva sank in the Black Sea. Russia's navy had tried to tow the damaged ship to Sevastopol, but it went down before reaching port. It was described as the largest warship sunk in combat since the Second World War, and new information indicated it had been among the ships involved in the 25 February attack on Snake Island.
The same day, protesters in the United States projected the Ukrainian flag onto the wall of the Russian embassy in Washington. The embassy responded with floodlights, trying to obscure the image.
