A church in Devon has spent 24-hours in prayer for those who have been affected by the war in Ukraine, a year on from the start of the invasion.

Churchgoers at St Andrew's Church, in Colyton, started the marathon vigil on Sunday, February 26th, two days after the anniversary.

The service - which ended on Monday afternoon – included prayer, readings and worship.

Volunteers rang the bells and schoolchildren made paper doves that hung from the ceiling, allowing congregants to be constantly reminded of the peace for which they were praying. 

Victoria Klimashevska is a Ukrainian sponsored by the Diocese of Exeter via the Homes for Ukraine scheme, and now lives in Devon.

Reflecting on the day the Russian invasion began, she told Premier Christian News: “It is very interesting because sometimes we don't remember what happened yesterday, or the day before that, but in our case, we remember every single minute of the day, every conversation that we had, every text message that was sent, people's faces. 

"It was a very strange, weird day, we couldn't believe that this was really happening. 

“We all thought it was just some kind of misunderstanding and that it would be over in two or three weeks.

“And here we are, a year later, praying for it to end. But it is really hard to run a marathon when you don't know how many miles you have to run.”