MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th April, 2023) Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, located a few hundred meters from the Kremlin, for the Orthodox Easter service.
The midnight mass is led by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin is also attending the Easter service.
Putin and Patriarch Kirill exchanged Easter gifts during the service, each presenting the other with a decorative Easter egg.
A Sputnik correspondent reported in the early hours of Sunday that the Holy Fire was delivered to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow just before the end of the service. The Holy Fire, which descended at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Saturday, was also delivered to 11 other churches in the Russian capital overnight.
Orthodox Christians are celebrating Easter this year on April 16.
Putin traditionally celebrates the holiday at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in the Russian capital, with only two exceptions so far during his tenures. In 2003, the Russian president was on a state visit to Tajikistan and attended the service at the St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Dushanbe. In 2020, Putin missed the Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour due to COVID-19-related restrictions. That year, he placed a candle in a small chapel located on the territory of the presidential residence in Novo-Ogaryovo.
