Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the 205th week of the war: No one in the world has ever faced such a situation before
Over the past year, 612 missile strikes and drone attacks of various types have nearly completely destroyed our power plants’ ability to generate energy. This was stated by His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, in his traditional video address during the 205th week of the great war that Russia is waging against Ukraine.
The Primate believes that this week has probably been one of the most severe since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion. “It will go down in history as the time when, in the depths of winter, with temperatures plummeting to minus 20 degrees every night, the Ukrainian government declared a state of emergency in the energy sector. The Ukrainian authorities have stated that every power plant in our country has been attacked by the Russians. They are trying to do everything they can to bring Ukraine to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe in the midst of the war.”
“In fact, energy experts say that no one in the world has ever faced such a situation before. Given these circumstances, our Church is doing everything it can to save lives. We have opened a place of comfort and light in the Patriarchal Cathedral, where Kyiv residents can find warmth, hot meals, internet access, and charge their power banks and mobile phones, even in the dark. Every day, we try to deliver hot meals to places where people suffer most from the cold and the inability to cook food,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
The Head of the Church once again thanked Ukrainian energy workers who are doing everything possible to deliver much-needed electricity to our homes, which saves lives.
He noted that due to the lack of electricity, some of our bakeries are unable to bake enough bread to feed people. At the same time, he cited statistics from a report by the International Monitoring Mission on Human Rights and Civilian Protection: “It states that last year was the deadliest since the start of the full-scale invasion. The number of civilian casualties increased by 31 percent year-on-year and by 70 percent compared to 2023. In such circumstances, we strive to serve God and people so that we do not lack inner Christian resilience.”
Read also:
Video Message of the Head of the UGCC on the 205th Week of the Full-Scale War, January 18, 2026
But despite all the hardships of this week in Kyiv, a truly historic event took place at the Patriarchal Center: “Celebrating the Sunday of the Word of God, we presented the Ukrainian-language edition of the Jerusalem Bible. This event was the crowning achievement of more than 20 years of work by biblical scholars, translators, and editors who made the modern accomplishments of Catholic biblical science accessible to Ukrainian-speaking readers. We feel that the Holy Scriptures have become closer to Ukrainian-speaking readers, and therefore we have the opportunity to become closer to the Word of God.”
The UGCC Department for Information
