Address by the Head of the UGCC for the 239th Week of the Full-Scale War, September 13, 2026
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
This Sunday marks the 239th week of this terrible war—Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukrainian territory. Yet we remember that the war began 12 years ago and has now lasted longer than the First World War, at least in terms of the full-scale invasion.
This week has been extremely difficult for Ukraine. Russia is escalating its attacks, particularly its airstrikes, on our cities and villages. Fighting along the front lines is fierce, but our military is liberating Ukrainian territory. The Ukrainian army went on the offensive this week.
Although our cities and villages have suffered—and suffered terribly from Russian airstrikes—Russia launched a massive attack on Kyiv on the night of September 8. Five people were killed and 35 were wounded.
The main targets of the Russian strikes were high-rise buildings. Fourteen such buildings were hit by drones and missiles. The Russians also targeted schools, hospitals, and warehouses, particularly those storing food, medicine, and other essentials needed to sustain life in our major cities. Once again, energy infrastructure was targeted—not only in Kyiv, but also in cities and villages in the Sumy, Donetsk, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, and Kyiv regions.
A day later, on September 9, the Russians deliberately struck a shopping center in the city of Sumy in broad daylight. Two people were killed at the scene, and 20 were wounded, including four children. In total, five people were killed and 24 seriously injured in the Sumy region that day.
Thus, the Russians are deliberately and systematically destroying the supply chains and energy infrastructure of our cities and villages, with the specific aim of turning them into ghost towns, particularly this winter. By destroying the infrastructure of our cities and villages, the Russians intend to use weather conditions—darkness, cold, and winter itself—as weapons against the civilian population. Since they cannot defeat us on the front lines, they are trying to break our internal resilience.
That is why responsible preparation for winter today means strengthening our collective resilience and working toward victory. Given the systematic destruction of everything centrally supplied in our cities—water, electricity, and heat—we must do everything we can to prepare responsibly for the winter. Surviving this winter means preparing for it together.
It is clear today that the source of our resilience this winter will be our local resilience. How we prepare our apartments, homes, high-rise buildings, and other dwellings for winter today will determine how Ukraine weathers the season. Therefore, preparing does not mean panicking; it means using this time—the autumn that God has granted us—responsibly and rationally.
That is why we must do everything we can, first and foremost, to ensure that our homes, institutions, and cities have the necessary resources to get through the winter. Energy resilience means changing our attitude toward what we call utility services. Indeed, today we must do everything we can to secure an autonomous energy supply, independent heating, and adequate water reserves.
That is why today I want to call on all our parishes, monasteries, and communities to become centers of energy resilience for our people. We must not focus solely on ourselves. We must do everything we can to open our doors this winter to those who will suffer from darkness, cold, and water shortages.
Today, the Church’s ministry means becoming hubs and centers of resilience for our cities and villages throughout the autumn and winter.
We have good examples to follow. For many years, we have been committed to conserving energy in our institutions as one way of treating the environment responsibly. We are committed to exploring alternative sources of electricity and to truly caring for God’s creation.
These efforts become especially important and relevant this winter. Today, we must do everything we can not only to adopt a new approach to energy resources, but also to ensure that they are used efficiently.
I would like to make a special appeal to our friends and international partners: please help Ukraine develop local energy resilience today! We desperately need solar panels, as well as ways to store this alternative energy for our homes and institutions. We also urgently need to ensure a reliable water supply and to deliver water to places where it may be scarce this winter. Support the efforts of those communities that are working toward local energy resilience and demonstrating extraordinary resilience and self-sacrifice for our people today!
We know that the enemy’s plans to freeze Ukraine and plunge us into darkness and cold will not succeed. Together, we will get through this winter. Together, we will bring warmth and light to all those who need our Christian love, solidarity, and witness.
Ukraine stands, Ukraine fights, Ukraine prays!
This Sunday, we stand on the eve of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross. The Sunday before the Feast of the Exaltation leads us directly into the Mystery of the Lord’s Cross, whose universal Exaltation we will celebrate tomorrow.
In his Epistle to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul presents the Lord’s Cross as the moment when everything we see in human society is placed in a new perspective. The Crucifixion was the moment of humanity’s deepest humiliation and contempt for God. Yet at the same time, it was the moment when the humiliated were glorified, when the powerful were cast down from their thrones, the rich departed empty-handed, and those who had been powerless, infirm, and marginalized were exalted.
This is the meaning of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of Christ. For us Christians, the Lord’s Cross is the source of our strength, the source of our hope, and the sign of Christian victory. Therefore, as we celebrate this Feast of the Exaltation, we pray:
O Lord, strengthen all that is weak, exalt all that is despised, and show the powerful of this world that strength and power belong to You, not to human beings, and that Your Kingdom will have no end.
Your Precious and Life-Giving Cross is the source of our hope, our hope for victory, and our hope for Your life-giving 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!
