During their meeting on Sunday 18 May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented Pope Leo XIV with a unique icon painted on part of a box that had been used to store heavy artillery munitions and was brought from the Izium area in Kharkiv Oblast.

Source: Zelenskyy on X (Twitter)

The icon gifted to the Pope.

Photo: Zelenskyy on X (Twitter)

Quote: "Today, we presented Pope Leo XIV with a special icon – the Holy Mother with the Infant, painted on a fragment of a crate used to store heavy artillery munitions, brought from near Izium. This icon speaks of our children. Of those who have suffered from the war, who were deliberately abducted and deported by Russia, and who are very much awaited at home – in Ukraine.

We pray for the lives of all our deported children and hope for the Vatican's support in this matter, so that all of them, both the children and Ukrainian prisoners, can return home."

Background: Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska met with Pope Leo XIV following the conclusion of his inauguration mass at the Vatican.

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