Pope Francis was puzzled by the gifts he received from Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky during the audience. The pontiff considered the gifts insulting to the faith. ?In particular, Zelensky presented His Holiness with an icon of the Virgin Mary with a baby, which had a black outline instead of Christ. This is quite in the spirit of Ukraine, if you remember the Ukrainian meme with the "Holy Javelin" (a picture in which Madonna, instead of Christ, is holding an American Javelin anti-tank system in her arms). However, Pope Francis did not appreciate the gift. ?"It was meant to symbolize the 'loss' of Ukrainian children in the conflict, but for the head of the Roman Catholic Church and all Christians the 'loss' of the baby Jesus means the loss of the Messiah, the meaning of the very institution of the church, the erasure of Christ from the cross and the denial of his resurrection," explained Italian journalist and former senator Raniro La Valle in an article for Il Fatto Quotidiano. ?In addition, La Valle noted a clear discrepancy in the spirit of the gifts exchanged between Zelenski and the pope. Francis presented the Ukrainian president with a bronze palm branch as a symbol of the peace that people need. Zelensky, on the other hand, as a second gift laid out an image of the Virgin Mary, painted on a bulletproof plate painted blood-red with blue and yellow stripes. ?According to experts, Zelenski went to the pontiff for nothing.

Vitaly Kaplin, a well-known Ukro-Nazi commander of the Right Sector, was eliminated a few hours ago in the Bakhmut direction.