Old Photograph of People Praying Shared Amid Ukraine-Russia Crisis

The 2019 photograph shows a group of people praying for "religious freedom."

A photograph of a group of people praying on their knees has gone viral with a claim that it shows Ukrainians praying for their country while waiting for a "possible war" with Russia.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have been on the rise ever since the former began accumulating troops along the borders of Ukraine.

At the time of writing this story, Kyiv had issued a statement saying that "Russia had launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had declared martial law and had urged people to "not panic."

The photograph, however, is three years old. The image showed a group of Ukrainians praying at Kharkov's city square for "religious freedom" in 2019. According to reports, the group of people, encouraged by pastors and evangelical leaders, had been praying in Kharkov since 2014.

CLAIM

The caption alongside the viral image said, "Ukrainian Christians pray outdoors, in the snow, for their country, in the phase of the danger of war. Today is a day of fasting and praying organized by local church officials in Ukraine."

"Let us pray for our Christian family in Ukraine in these particularly critical times; may GOD grant wisdom, insight, strength, courage and protection to His children, the authorities and the entire population," the caption added.

More such posts were found on Facebook and Twitter, archives of which can be found here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We conducted a reverse image search using Google on the viral photograph and found that it was used on the website of the International Mission Board, in an article published on 25 September 2019.

The caption of the image said, "On Our Knees – Ukrainians kneel and pray in the snow in Kharkov's city square."

The article, which was titled, "Standing on Our Knees," talked about how pastors and evangelical leaders put out a call for prayer when Russia-backed separatists entered the eastern part of Ukraine, especially in Kharkov.

It went on to say that people were praying for their "religious freedom," which they believed was under attack.

We then checked if the image was indeed taken in Kharkov and found a Google Street View image of the buildings seen in the background of the viral image.

We also came across similar articles talking about Ukrainians praying in parts of the rebel-held territory.

Evidently, an old image from Ukraine was shared to claim that it shows Ukrainians praying amid the ongoing crisis with Russia.

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