Address by the Head of the UGCC for the 235th Week of the Full-Scale War, August 16, 2026
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
This Sunday marks the 235th week of this horrific, violent, and sacrilegious war. Russia continues to attack our homeland—our peaceful cities and villages—day and night, from the sea, the air, and the ground. Our soldiers—young men and women—are heroically defending our homeland on the front lines.
This Sunday, once again, we thank the Lord and the Armed Forces of Ukraine for saving our lives, for enabling us to fight for our very existence this past week, confronting death.
Every month, various international commissions and institutions summarize the events of the previous months of this terrible war. We were deeply saddened last week to hear that the UN monitoring mission called July the bloodiest month of this war since 2022. A total of 437 people were killed in July, and 2,610 were wounded. And these are only the officially reported figures.
This is the highest number of adults killed and wounded since May 2022. It is also the highest number of innocent Ukrainian children killed and wounded since April 2022.
Many observers find the historical analogy particularly striking. This war is becoming increasingly comparable to the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, when the two countries—Tehran and Baghdad—exchanged missile strikes without being able to make any advances along the front lines. Each side sought to weaken the other, hoping that the mounting suffering of the civilian population would spark some kind of internal revolution or lead to an agreement to surrender. But even then, in the 1980s, this did not happen between the two countries.
The Russians seem to be experimenting with similar tactics today in the war against Ukraine, but even now, this is yielding no success. It brings no success, but it does increase the suffering and pain of the population.
This week, innocent civilians were killed in strikes on Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and the Odesa region. Steelworkers at Zaporizhstal were killed; railroad workers and bus drivers transporting noncombatants were killed; our medical workers, rushing to save lives, were killed; and rescue workers were killed by repeated ballistic missile strikes on the very sites where they were trying to save survivors by clearing the rubble.
The mounting pain of Ukrainians does not lead to despair; on the contrary, it strengthens our resolve and our determination to defend Ukraine. We are becoming increasingly aware that there is a way to end this war. It is very simple: when Russia stops killing us, the war will end.
But if Ukraine stops defending itself, millions of people will lose their lives to the Russians’ genocide against our people. That is why today the Russians are trying to turn everything they reach into a weapon—the climate, the economy, international relations, and even the fears and suffering of Ukrainians.
But we see that they will never achieve this. Therefore, once again, on behalf of the millions of Ukrainians, we want the whole world to hear that Ukraine stands, Ukraine fights, Ukraine prays!
This week, people from all corners of the world are gathering in Ukraine—the heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches, our priests and bishops from various countries, and religious leaders from different Churches, communities, and religious organizations. This is part of Ukraine’s preparations to celebrate the 35th anniversary of its independence.
Given this special moment in the life of our country and our people, the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations has appealed to the World Council of Churches, to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, and to all people of good will, calling for August 24—the day Ukraine celebrates Independence Day—to be declared a World Day of Prayer for Peace in Ukraine.
I want to endorse this appeal from the Churches and various religious communities of Ukraine, and I ask all people of good will—men and women alike—to pray and join this World Day of Prayer, that the Lord may put an end to the war in Ukraine and free mankind from the demon of war, which every day reaps new harvests of death with its scythe in Ukraine.
Join us in prayer on that day, which indeed has tremendous power. We believe that prayer is stronger than weapons!
On August 24, as we traditionally do, we will all pray together in Kyiv at the oldest cathedral in Eastern Europe, St. Sophia Cathedral. Let us stand together before God at this moment. We believe that the Lord God is the God of peace, the God of love, the God of life, and that He will hear our prayers.
Yesterday, we all celebrated a special feast day of the Mother of God—the Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary. For Ukrainians, this feast day is particularly special. Our largest monasteries and most prominent lavras are dedicated to the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God—the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the Pochaiv Lavra, the Univ Lavra, and many of our other churches and special pilgrimage sites.
Yesterday, we took part in a special pilgrimage to the Univ Lavra of the Holy Dormition, of the Studite Order, where thousands of people gathered to ask the Mother of God for protection from the murderous hand of invaders and aggressors. We prayed that the power of life might triumph over the power of death. Yesterday, we sang, glorifying the Mother of God as the source of life, who passed from death to life, being the Mother of Life.
We pray: Most Holy Virgin Mary, You who are ascending from earth to heaven in body and soul, take with You the pain, tears, prayers, cries, and lamentations of the children of Ukraine before the throne of Your Son in heaven.
Mother of God, intercede for our homeland, that it may receive a just, heavenly, and divine peace!
The blessing of the Lord be upon you, through His grace and love for mankind, always, now and forever, and for the ages of ages. Amen.
Glory to Jesus Christ!
