(Moscow) On board a small plane, Russian Orthodox priests carried out a religious procession over areas affected by massive floods hitting southern Russia and prayed for them to end.
The four priests flew over flooded territories in the Kurgan region reciting prayers and carrying an icon of the Virgin Mary, according to a video released Thursday by the local Church.
“It was a planned flight of an AN-2 aircraft to monitor floods, but cult servants with a miraculous icon joined emergency specialists on board,” the source said.
The region’s metropolitan, Daniil, said he had received requests from several residents to lead this procession in the face of “the threat of flooding”.
“If we participate together in this common prayer, if we show repentance and mercy, then we will greatly reduce the scale of the disaster,” Daniil said.
This support from heaven came while President Vladimir Putin still has no plans to go there, despite the severity of the disaster which led to thousands of evacuations and protests against the local authorities.