Video Message of the Head of the UGCC on the 197th Week of the Full-Scale War, November 23, 2025
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
This Sunday marks the 197th week of full-scale war that Russian criminals have unleashed on peaceful Ukrainian soil. This week has been marked by both the heroic deeds of the sons and daughters of Ukraine in defending their homeland and new crimes against humanity committed by the occupiers on our long-suffering Ukrainian land.
We pray for our defenders in Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad in Donbas, Huliaipole in our Zaporizhzhia, in the south of our homeland, Kupiansk in Kharkiv region, for Sumy, which is also at the epicenter of Russian attacks in the north of our homeland every day and every night.
However, the tragedy that occurred in Ternopil has particularly devastated us all. On the night of November 19, Russian criminals killed dozens of people and injured hundreds more, including three children, in a massive missile strike on civilians. Rescuers are still clearing the rubble, working 24 hours a day.
What we saw in Ternopil exceeds the concept of “war.” This is no longer a war; it is not a confrontation between the military forces of one state or another. What we witnessed in Ternopil was the deliberate mass murder of civilians. This was particularly cynical in the reports from the Russian side, which stated that with this crime in Ternopil, they had achieved their objectives. They emphasized once again that this was the deliberate killing of civilians.
But it also seemed particularly callous on the eve of International Children’s Day, which we celebrated for the first time together with the world community on November 20. Today, the innocent blood of Ukrainian children is calling to the conscience of all people of good will. Those three children killed by the Russians in Ternopil remind us of the 668 children of Ukraine who have died during the fourth year of this war.
Today, we pray and remember those children who have gone missing in Ukraine, the wounded children, the tens of thousands of abducted children of Ukraine—those children who have no voice to speak for themselves and no one to protect them from the powerful of this world.
But during this time of Nativity Fast, we see that the Son of God, who comes to us to be born in human flesh, who himself chose to become a child, today especially commiserates with the fate of the children of Ukraine – girls and boys who today are deliberately targeted by daily Russian attacks.
But today we want to say once again to the whole world that our Ukraine stands.
We are thankful to His Holiness Pope Leo, who just this week met with Ukrainian children who were freed from Russian abduction. We are grateful that the Holy Father personally wanted to hear the stories of these children and their families, their fathers and mothers, who were tortured, often in front of their children. We thank Pope Leo for his solidarity and support for Ukraine, both in words and actions.
And let the world hear that Ukraine stands, Ukraine fights, Ukraine prays!
This week, on November 21, Ukraine celebrates Day of Dignity and Freedom. This is the day when, at different times, two transformational events took place in Ukrainian society, which we called revolutions – the Orange Revolution and then the Revolution of Dignity. On this day, we especially commemorate those sons and daughters of Ukraine who gave their lives for the dignity and freedom of our homeland.
We made our way to Instytutska Street in Kyiv, where a small wooden church was built on the blood of our heroes of the Heavenly Hundred. There, prayers are offered for the innocently killed Ukrainians, for those who fought and gave their lives for the dignity and freedom of their homeland.
But this week, we also remembered another tragedy that still touches the consciousness, hearts, and will of Ukrainians as a post-genocidal nation enduring a new genocide in this war.
Yesterday, we commemorated all the victims of the famines in Ukraine, all those innocently killed by artificial starvation, which was deliberately ordered by Stalin's communist regime. The slogan of these days of remembrance for the victims of the famine is the following words from the World Congress of Ukrainians: “We remember—the world acknowledges.”
Every year, we speak to the world about the wounds and tragedies of Ukraine, not to score points with anyone, but so that this memory serves as a safeguard, so that such tragedies are not repeated in the future, either with Ukraine or with any other nation in the world. That is why it is vital today to stop the murderous hand of the Russian aggressor, who wants to repeat everything that we want to prevent with our struggle, our memory, and our heroic defense of the Fatherland.
And in these days of remembrance of the tragedies of the past and the tragedies of the present, we want to pray. Pray for all those who have been forgotten or whom history has tried to forget.
I would like to thank our bishop, Metropolitan Teodor Martynyuk, who was the first to rush to the scene of the tragedy in Ternopil. Our Church organized a humanitarian aid center there to help the victims.
Today we pray that God will stop this war. We ask: Lord Jesus Christ, bless Ukraine, bless Your children, bless all those who have their hope and help only in You today!
God, bless our beloved homeland with Your righteous, 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.
