Video Message of the Head of the UGCC on the 220th Week of the Full-Scale War, May 3, 2026
Christ is risen!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
This Sunday marks the 220th week since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale invasion of peaceful Ukrainian territory. This week, we are not only counting the days and nights, the weeks of war, but also mourning the countless victims of this aggression and the new destruction. Once again, Ukraine is gripped by pain, grief, and sorrow.
This week, each day and night, the enemy targeted different cities and villages across Ukraine, launching large-scale attacks using various types of weapons. Our cities of Odesa, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv came under severe atack. Russian drones even reached as far as Ternopil. Once again, there is extensive destruction and damage.
But we thank the Armed Forces of Ukraine, our young men and women, who this week protected civilians across Ukraine, often at the cost of their own safety.
The week began with one bright and beautiful event. Nearly 200 of our defenders were released from Russian captivity and returned to their families and homes. We continue to pray for the release of all our prisoners of war, our civilian hostages, and the children of Ukraine abducted by the Russian Federation. Our gratitude goes out to all those who are courageously fighting today, fulfilling their duty to the Motherland.
This week, a significant event took place. During a meeting of the heads of Ukrainian Christian Churches with Ukrainian intellectuals, scholars, and human rights defenders, the initiative group known as The First of December resumed its activities. This is a unique group of people who, for 15 years, have sought to be the voice of the Ukrainian people’s conscience.
The name of this group is no coincidence. We know that on December 1, 1991, a nationwide referendum on the independence of our Motherland took place, and at that time, over 90 % of Ukrainians—from Crimea, Donbas, Central, Eastern, Southern, and Western Ukraine—voted for national sovereignty and independence. Almost 15 years ago, at a time when the crisis in relations between the Ukrainian government and civil society was escalating, the three largest Churches—the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Kyiv Patriarchate, and our Church—issued a joint appeal, addressing the people of Ukraine on the spiritual and moral causes of the economic crisis.
Scholars, intellectuals, and moral authorities of civil society responded to the Churches’ call. For 15 years, it has served as the conscience of our people—a spiritual and moral compass uniting the nation in affirming its independence and sovereignty.
This week, during the meeting with the heads of Christian Churches, this initiative received renewed spiritual support from the Churches. In these difficult circumstances, everything that unites us, everything that speaks to our conscience and refers to the spiritual and moral foundations of our national existence—upon which we can build our future—is of vital importance. This meeting truly addressed the most urgent and pressing issues. Today, with one voice, we seek to address the spiritual and moral challenges facing our people and, above all, to care for the common good.
We feel how our people are uniting, how today, across various institutions, public organizations, and intellectual circles, there is a genuine concern for the future of our nation.
We thank the Lord God for this moment of unity, solidarity, and togetherness. And we want the world to hear and know: Ukraine stands. Ukraine fights. Ukraine prays!
Today is Sunday, when, in the rhythm of our journey toward Pentecost, we heard in all our churches the reading from the Holy Gospel about our Savior’s healing of the paralyzed man who lay by the Sheep Pool, awaiting this moment of salvation.
Here in Ukraine and in our communities, within the walls of our churches, we mark and observe the Day of the Sick. This is a special pastoral moment when we seek to place the sick person at the center of our spiritual attention and our prayers. We know how deeply this terrible war affects our people—wounding both soul and body.
The trauma of war will likely shape various processes in our Church and social life for years to come. The very form of pastoral care that our Church carries out today is called “pastoral care for the healing of the wounds of war.”
This Sunday, we did not merely pray for all those who are enduring illness or suffering from wounds of the soul and body. Together, we also seek to perform concrete acts of loving kindness toward the sick. First and foremost, we want to remind ourselves that being sick can be a unique opportunity to gain certain spiritual treasures. Christians are not people who never suffer, never fall ill, or never experience trauma, but they have a particular relationship with the reality of human suffering.
Sometimes we cannot change our circumstances, whether social or personal, but we must change our attitude toward them and view them through Christian eyes. In such moments, especially on this day, the Church calls us to see in every sick and suffering person our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. We Christians believe in the suffering God, our Savior, the Son of God, who took upon Himself all the pains, wounds, and illnesses of humanity in order to heal them.
I would like to thank our healthcare professionals, especially nurses, and all those who care for the sick, including family members who care for the infirm, the sick, and the elderly in our homes. May we truly see our Lord God present in this human infirmity today. And may even our pains, sufferings, and illnesses, when borne in a Christian manner, become our spiritual treasure, through which we share in the redemptive mission of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Today we embrace all the sick, the suffering, and the afflicted. We ask the Lord God to heal their wounds. Together we pray for an end to this war.
We pray: Jesus, stop this war! What is beyond human power is within Your power, O our God and Savior. Bless our people and our long-suffering Ukrainian land with Your just, 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.
Christ is risen! Indeed, He is risen!
