Kiev, April 5, 2011
The ceremony was held at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre. Department head Evgeny Struzhko presented the holy image to the director of the Terada Ballet Art School, Michiko Terada, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church reported on its website.
When the Chernobyl power station broke down, Terada came to the Ukraine with a ballet show, not fearing the consequences of the tragic explosion.
"Today we would like to be with suffering Japanese people who are living through the tragedy. It is something very close to us and so we would like to transfer the holy icon to an Orthodox Japanese church," Struzhko said.
Christ, the Mother of God, Archangel Michael and liquidators of the Chernobyl catastrophe are depicted on the icon.