Separatist conflict worries neighbours

Poland’s Catholic bishops have warned their country faces a threat from events in neighbouring Ukraine, as church representatives in the war-torn region highlighted the plight of local Catholics.

“On Ukrainian territory, so closely linked with us in historical memory, an unspeakable war now rages, in which soldiers and civilians are dying, families suffering and human hearts filling with hatred,” the Polish diocesan bishops said in a statement marking the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War.

“We appeal for action to stop the tragedy of this war by peaceful means.” The statement was published as the Ukrainian army was pushed back from the strategic city of Luhansk by Russian-backed separatists, and Ukraine’s Defence Minister, Valeriy Heletey, accused Moscow of unleashing a “great war” that could cost tens of thousands of lives.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian bishop said most Catholics had now been forced to flee rebel-held areas, making church life impossible. “We face very hard times in our diocese because of this war,” said Bishop Jan Sobilo, an auxiliary in Kharkiv-Zaporizhia. “Not all information is getting through. We know some buildings have been destroyed where members of our communities lived. Although we don’t have confirmation whether they were there when the bombs exploded, we also have information that some have been killed.”

United Nations sources reported in August that 1,367 soldiers and civilians had been killed in eastern Ukraine since fighting erupted in April. Separatist groups put the numbers much higher. The sources added that almost four million Ukrainians now faced hardships because of wrecked infrastructure.

In late August, the head of Ukraine’s largest Catholic charity said conditions were now “dramatic and precarious”, and warned of a humanitarian crisis as water, electricity and medical supplies were disrupted. “We need greater help from the international community,” Andrij Waskowicz, president of Caritas-Ukraine, told The Tablet in an interview. “Thousands have already been killed and injured, and there’s deep insecurity.”