During a meeting on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented Pope Leo XIV with a significant icon crafted from a fragment of a crate used for heavy artillery brought from Izyum.

Source: Zelensky on Telegram

Direct quote: "Today we handed Pope Leo XIV a special icon – "Mother of God with Child", painted on a piece of a heavy artillery crate brought from Izyum. It symbolizes our children. Those who have suffered from the war, who were deliberately kidnapped and deported by Russia, and who are eagerly awaited back home in Ukraine.

We pray for the lives of all our deported children and hope for the Vatican's support on this matter, so that everyone – both children and Ukrainian prisoners – can return home".

Background: President Volodymyr Zelensky and First Lady Olena Zelenska met with Pope Leo XIV after his inauguration mass in the Vatican.