A woman takes a dip in icy water during celebrations of the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany in Pereslavl-Zalessky, Yaroslavl region, Russia on January 18, 2022. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

In this photo taken on Sunday, March 10, 2019, a little girl laughs during a ritual marking the upcoming Clean Monday, the beginning of the Great Lent, 40 days ahead of Orthodox Easter, on the hills surrounding the village of Poplaca, in central Romania's Transylvania region. Romanian villagers burn piles of used tires then spin them in the Transylvanian hills in a ritual they believe will ward off evil spirits as they begin a period of 40 days of abstention, when Orthodox Christians cut out meat, fish, eggs, and dairy. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

Members of an Orthodox community take part in an Easter service at a church in the village of Poteryaevka, some 200 km (124 miles) southwest of the city of Barnaul in Russia's Altai region, on April 24, 2011. (Reuters/Andrei Kasprishin)

Women dressed in traditional costumes sing Christmas carols as they gather to celebrate Orthodox Christmas at a compound of the National Architecture museum in Kyiv, Ukraine on January 7, 2022. (Photo by Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

A priest sprinkles holy water on a believer during the Orthodox Easter service in the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in the rebel-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine on May 2, 2021. (Photo by Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

Military chaplain Yurii looks on in a trench after an Orthodox Easter service for Ukrainian servicemen at their position, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine on April 15, 2023. (Photo by Sofiia Gatilova/Reuters)

A Russian Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jet takes off during the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria at Hmeymim airbase, Syria, March 16, 2016. (Photo by Vadim Grishankin/Reuters/Russian Ministry of Defence)

A baby is baptised during a mass baptism ceremony on Epiphany day in Tbilisi, January 19, 2015. About 1000 children were baptised by the Georgian Orthodox church during the 38th mass baptism ceremony at the country's main cathedral Holy Trinity. (Photo by David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)