Ukrainians return home from Poland for special Easter

Maria Verbyana, a 19-year-old Ukrainian woman who returns to her homeland for Easter, waits for a bus to Lviv at a bus station in Warsaw, Poland April 21, 2022. Picture taken April 21, 2022. REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki

WARSAW (Reuters) - Maria Verbyana, 19, moved to Warsaw to escape Lviv, Ukraine, a month ago amid the threat of Russian bombings. But, as Orthodox Easter approaches on Sunday, she could not imagine being away from her priest and family.

Late on Thursday night, she boarded a bus back home, determined to spend her Easter volunteering to help Ukrainian soldiers, performing folk songs and praying and singing with Father Taras.