After weeks of defying international pleas to free eight European officials they had captured in May, pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine released them unexpectedly in June following a public appeal by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
Reuters: How the Russian Orthodox Church answers Putin’s prayers in Ukraine
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill (L) congratulates Russian President Vladimir Putin during a service for the celebration of the Orthodox Easter in Moscow, early on April 20, 2014.
