Little forgiveness for Russia on 'Forgiveness Sunday' in Ukraine

On a day recognized throughout much of Russia and Ukraine as "Forgiveness Sunday," there was little forgiveness to be found during the service at the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church in Lviv, near the border with Poland.

Bishop Stepan Sus made a passionate case during his sermon that the invading Russian troops who have systematically shelled and bombed Ukrainian cities over the past 11 days, killing hundreds of civilians, should indeed be forgiven — but, he said, only so that Ukrainian forces can have clearer minds and hearts when they fight them.

"What they [Russians] are doing is awful," said Sus, who presides over services at Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church in Lviv's historic old town.

"We have to forgive — not because we are weak, but because ... it is very important that we are not poisoned by this evil," he told CBC News.

The historic church was unusually full on Sunday, with hundreds standing shoulder to shoulder in the ornate building as Sus delivered his plea to defend Ukraine, but not at the cost of dehumanizing the enemy.

"Despite all the terrible things that have happened in the war, our soldiers are keeping their human face — they want to respect the prisoners and our enemies — and they are doing that to try to stop this war immediately."

It's unknown how many Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the fighting, but the United Nations claims that as of Saturday, there have been more than 364 Ukrainian civilian deaths — a number that observers say is conservative.

On Sunday, during an attempted evacuation of the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol, Ukraine's government said Russian troops fired on and killed many civilians, including children.

The downtown areas of entire cities, such as Kharkiv, have been demolished by Russian artillery shells. And while the core of the capital Kyiv remains largely intact, suburbs have sustained immense damage, mostly to residential buildings.

At the Lviv church service, one middle-aged woman wearing a Ukrainian military uniform identified herself as Alexandra and said she was 52 years old.

She said she joined the army three years ago because she was so fearful that Russia might attack further into her country, beyond the regions of Donbas and Luhansk, which Russia-backed troops have controlled since 2014.

Alexandra said she had just finished a 24-hour shift helping newly enlisted soldiers begin their training and adjusting to life in the army and decided to stop at the church on her way home.

But she said that after listening to the bishop's call for forgiveness, she could not do as he asked.

"It will be a sin for what I will tell you next," she told CBC News outside the service.