Epiphany Day, celebrated on Jan. 19 across the Eastern Christian world, marks the day that Christ was baptized in the waters of the Jordan River according to the Gregorian calendar.
Believers across Ukraine traditionally gather near rivers and lakes, where a priest sanctifies the body of water and the brave dip themselves in the icy water three times, reenacting the baptism of Christ in a ritual believed to ward of sickness and cleanse the soul.
Kyiv’s City State Administration and the Synodal Office of the Military Clergy marked the holiday with two events at Kyiv’s Hydropark, with military veterans and their families attending a ceremony in the morning and other celebrants invited to a public event in the afternoon.
