It is a holy card held near the Ukrainian vest.

As Russia wages war on Ukraine and lowers its Iron Curtain, a Christian legend has been resurrected.

Now that a huge convoy of Russian tanks is approaching the country’s capital, Kiev, an ancient religious prediction has surfaced.

The prophecy: Ukraine will survive (and remain ostensibly free) as long as the huge mosaic of the Virgin Mary, located in Kiev’s 11th-century Saint Sophia Cathedral, remains intact.

The mosaic is known as “Oranta” and is under the protection of UNESCO.

The shocker: it’s located here/near the Ukrainian security service in Kyiv, a possible Russian target.

The backshot: katerina (born Catherine Claire Chuachenko) Yushchenko, the wife of the former Ukrainian president, born in Chicago and graduated with an MBA from the University of Chicago Viktor Yushchenko — drew attention to the mural this week via his very active Twitter account.

Kateryna Yushchenko – whose husband was poisoned and disfigured by the toxin dioxin, a derivative of Agent Orange (during her 2004 election campaign that ushered in Ukraine’s Orange Revolution for freedom) – used the account to lure pay attention to the evil actions of the Russian President Vladimir Poutine, whom it accuses of genocide, and its oligarchs.

She also underlined the heroism of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose comment, “We need ammunition, not a round”, became a cry heard around the world.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, some of the former first lady’s tweets have even gone viral. Some of his best:

• “For years I have referred to [Russian prime minister Sergei] Lavrov, as a clown. He is [Nazi propagandist Joseph] Goebbels embody. Zelensky is not a neo-Nazi and Ukraine has not banned the Russian language anywhere.

• “The Ukrainian people are waging war for us and the Ukrainian children who suffer from Putin’s madness.”

• “Smoke and mirrors. Russia has sent people to pose as protesters at a rally calling on Russia to annex Kherson.

• “The United States is stopping oil imports now. Pull banks, investment banks, technology companies. Shut down your systems now. Or you will be accomplices.

• “When you pray for Ukraine, pray for our freedom and sovereignty, not just peace. Peace under Russian rule will continue the genocide, but at a slower pace.

• “Clever. Both Lithuania and Latvia have renamed the streets where the Russian Embassy is located as “Ukrainian Independence Street”. I bet they’ll hate that on all their mail.

She also drew attention to an 80-year-old man who wanted to join the military in a tweet that got 335,000 likes!

The daughter of Ukrainian immigrants whose family suffered at the hands of the Soviet regime and a descendant of those killed in the Soviet famine (Holodomor) imposed on Ukraine in 1932-33, the former first lady has amassed an impressive US government resume before marrying Yushchenko.

With a bachelor’s degree in international economics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, she also worked in the White House Public Liaison Office during the Reagan administration; the US Treasury Department under the George W. Bush administration; the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress and the US Department of State specializing in human rights and humanitarian affairs.

But she also admitted to the press recently that her family was on another list: Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s target list.

Putin carries a large eraser in his ammo bag.

May God help us all.

Ukrainian baguette…

Author JK Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter, launched a Ukrainian intention: “This is one of the times I wish I could do magic.”

A note from Moscow…

A note from history: The city’s “Sister City” relationship with Moscow, which was overturned this week by a city council vote endorsed by the mayor Lori Lightfoot, born in 1997 during mayor by Richard M. Daley mandate in office.

In mid-2009, Sneed reported that Daley was leading a trade delegation to Russia. It ended up including representatives from Motorola, Boeing and AT Kearney. The trip also included a plan to visit his son, patrick, who had spent a lot of time in Moscow since leaving military service, spoke Russian and was trying to build his life and career there.

“Why shouldn’t he [Patrick] do you want to live outside the brilliance of his family’s name? said a source at the time. Shortly after Mayor Daley left in 2011, a source reported that the former mayor was traveling to Moscow to work on a business project with his son.

A note from Moscow II…

In March 2014, the aldermen Ed Burke and Joe Moreno, who represented the Ukrainian village district, proposed a resolution urging airlines operating at O’Hare Airport to end service to Russia as a show of solidarity with the people of Ukraine, whose country had been invaded. “What is happening in Ukraine is outrageous and resembles what Hitler did in the 1930s before World War II,” added Burke, who also wanted to end Chicago’s relationship with Moscow at the time.

Sneedlings…

Ukrainian solidarity! A Ukrainian War Effort Dinner to benefit the international nonprofit charity “Revived Soldiers of Ukraine” will be held March 11 at the Magic Jug Restaurant at 6354 W Irving Park Rd. on the northwest side. It will be co-hosted by Sunday host ‘Irish Radio Hour’ William Kelly on WPNA-AM 1490 and Ukrainian-American Tatiana Klimko. … Signs of spring: Scilla and snowdrops appear! … Saturday birthdays: actor Eva Mendes, 48; televangelist Joel Osteen, 59; Wizard Penn Jillette, 67; and NFL legend Michael Irvin, 56; …Sunday birthdays: basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal, 50; actor DL Hughley, 59 years old, actor/director Rob Reiner, 75 years old and businessman Ivan Boesky, 84;