A somber, hopeful Easter: Ukrainians pray for peace at Phoenix church amid Russian invasion

PHOENIX - April 24 marks Easter, or Pascha, for Orthodox Christians around the world, including the Ukrainian Orthodox who are devastated by violence overseas.

Peace and hope in the resurrection are at the forefront of Easter celebrations at St. Mary's Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Phoenix.

Kids in their Sunday best are waiting with their Easter baskets, soon to be filled with traditional Pascha sweet bread and eggs.

"I've been coming here my entire life, probably every single Orthodox Easter I have celebrated at this church," said Larissa Szwez, a member. "Being here today, it just takes on a whole new meaning with everything going on."

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Many of the prayers today are for the Ukrainian people devastated by violence as the Russians continue to invade the country.

"It's really hard," Szwez said. "I mean, my entire life I grew up hearing from my grandparents that we are not Russian."

Yulilya Farmoush is from Kiev, Ukraine. She's lived in Arizona for years, but her mom was still living in the country when war broke out.

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"She had to stay in Poland and Germany, Netherlands, then she came here finally," Farmoush said. "It was scary. It still is, because my father and my brother are still there."

But coming to church and being part of this Ukrainian community in the States has been a comfort. The hope is that this season of Easter will bring with it renewed peace.

"We just want the war to stop like everybody else, and people came here to the church to pray specifically for that," Farmoush said.

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