Video-message of the Head of the UGCC on the 162nd Week of Full-Scale War, March 23, 2025
Glory to Jesus Christ!
The 162nd week of the Great War has passed—another week of pain, bloodshed, destruction, and human loss. Yet, it has also been a week of remarkable courage and heroism from the Ukrainian army and the Ukrainian people.
Throughout this week, the enemy has continued its nightly terror against the peaceful towns and villages of our country. The Russians have developed new tactics, launching massive drone attacks on selected cities each night, seemingly concentrating all their fury on a single location or region.
Once again, Kyiv has been at the epicenter of these assaults, with dozens of drones targeting the peaceful skies over our capital night after night. But this week, our city of Kropyvnytskyi in southern Ukraine, along with Odesa, also suffered a similar massive drone strike. According to our military, this was the largest drone attack on Odesa since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
It is unsettling to hear many people say that we must be realistic here in Ukraine, especially when peace negotiations are underway or some sort of pause in attacks is announced—particularly regarding strikes on our energy infrastructure. The reality, however, is quite the opposite. While making one proclamation, the Russian occupiers do the exact opposite. Once again, our peaceful towns and villages are in flames.
Yet, we are grateful to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who bravely repel the enemy’s attacks at the front. We thank our men and women. We thank the Lord that we have survived another week of this brutal war. And today, we declare to the world: Ukraine stands. Ukraine fights. Ukraine prays!
This week has brought us several rays of light, gifts from the Lord God. Most importantly, a major prisoner exchange took place—nearly 200 Ukrainian soldiers, who had defended Ukraine on various fronts, were freed from Russian captivity. We give thanks to the Lord for every life saved. We embrace our heroes and their families, who welcomed their loved ones home with tears of joy.
Additionally, this week we received two significant expressions of solidarity with our Church and our nation—from the Catholics of the United States and France. We had the honor of hosting esteemed guests from the U. S., who conveyed warm greetings from the American people. His Eminence Bishop Gerald Vincke, chairman of the Office for Aid to the Church in Eastern and Central Europe, assured us that American Catholics stand with us, support us, love us, and pray for us.
We also welcomed a delegation from L’Ouvre d’Orient, a French organization that provides crucial assistance, particularly in humanitarian and educational spheres. Their work is helping us respond to the immense challenges of war in these vital areas of life.
This week, the world’s attention—including that of Ukrainians—was fixed on high-level negotiations between the United States, Ukraine, and Russia. We extend our gratitude to all the good people, diplomats, and heads of state working to end this war. Yet, based on our experience with Russian deception, we must reaffirm that a just and lasting peace can only be built on the foundations of truth and justice.
As we seek a path to this just peace, perhaps even a formula to end the war, we must recognize that truth and justice are not abstract ideals. They are like two wings that provide balance, allowing us to move forward on the road to peace. And here, truth and justice must not be empty rhetoric.
The truth, without which reconciliation or an end to the war is impossible, is that Ukraine is the victim of aggression, while the Russian occupier is the criminal. The truth is that the interests of the aggressor and the victim cannot be placed on equal footing.
Justice demands that any formula for peace must stop the aggressor and protect the victim. Without these fundamental principles, a just peace cannot be found. Lofty slogans and grand statements mean little to Ukrainians who have heard them time and again—only to continue suffering massacres, atrocities, and relentless bombings on their native land. We pray for peace, we strive to build it, but without truth and justice, “peace” will remain an empty word.
This week, our Patriarchal House in Kyiv hosted a Forum on Social Service, bringing together those directly serving war victims and addressing the severe humanitarian crisis caused by the war. Present were eparchial synkels of social service, representatives from our Church’s Department of Social Service, various organizations, government officials, and social service communities. Together, we sought to understand the emerging humanitarian challenges and determine how best to respond.
The UN Humanitarian Center reports that one in three Ukrainians is in urgent need of humanitarian aid. While we hope to serve these people together, immediate relief will not be enough. We must transition from urgent humanitarian assistance to long-term social protection for those affected by the war.
For this reason, our social service institutions—including Caritas Ukraine, Wise Cause, the Knights of Columbus, and the Ukrainian Educational Platform—have focused on healing our communities. These communities, built on love and mercy, must embrace and support those who have been internally displaced, wounded, or are returning from combat as veterans.
We witness how the power of God’s love is actively healing the wounds of war in Ukraine today. We thank all who help us in this mission. Today, we strive to serve those in need—socially and humanely—more effectively and competently.
We pray: Lord, bless the Ukrainian army! Bless our men and women on the front lines! Bless those who bear the wounds of this war! Bless our statesmen, diplomats, and volunteers who seek a way to halt the aggressor. O God, bless our Motherland with Your just and heavenly 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.
