Ukrainian Churches demand UN action after ‘criminal’ Russian strikes

‘If the bombings continue with such intensity, it is not a good sign. Rather, it indicates a will to continue the war.’

Religious leaders in Ukraine called on members of the United Nations Security Council to condemn Russian “terrorist attacks and crimes against humanity” after large-scale strikes across the country.

The attacks on 13-14 May in regions across Ukraine included a missile strike on an apartment block in Kyiv which killed at least 24 people, including three children. The Ukrainian military said it was the largest attack since the Russian invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine responded with a large-scale drone attack on the night of 16-17 May which killed at least four people across Russia. 

The attacks followed the end of a three-day truce on 9-11 May for the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany announced by US President Donald Trump. Both sides accused the other of violating the ceasefire.

“The Russian Federation, while being a ‘permanent member’ of the UN Security Council, has once again flagrantly disregarded international humanitarian law and demonstrated to the entire world the complete immorality, criminality and inhumane nature of the ideology and practice of ‘Ruscism’ – modern-day fascism,” said a statement from the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations on 14 May.

It called on the UN “to demonstrate determination and political will in establishing a just peace” by condemning Russia and imposing stronger sanctions on its politicians “as well as Russian religious leaders who are complicit in crimes against humanity in Ukraine by approving and encouraging them”.

The apostolic nuncio to Ukraine Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas reported that a Russian strike deliberately targeted a UN humanitarian vehicle in Kherson during the attacks. He told Vatican News it was “very concerning when humanitarian workers with clear markings are deliberately targeted, so that the population does not receive aid”.

“If the bombings continue with such intensity, it is not a good sign. Rather, it indicates a will to continue the war,” Archbishop Kulbokas said.

The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church reported that around 95 per cent of the targets struck by the Russia last week were residential buildings or civilian infrastructure.

“The more we speak of peace and an end to the war, the more brutal the enemy’s attacks become,” said Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk in a message on Sunday.

In a message marking the anniversary of the end of the Second World War, published shortly before the truce, the primate of the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine said the return of war “emphasises the principle that evil must be exposed, halted and punished”.

“Days of remembrance and reconciliation are not about forgetting or silently accepting injustice,” said Metropolitan Epifaniy.

“They remind us of the importance of truth and accountability for past wrongs, and that true peace cannot exist without justice. We cannot speak of reconciliation while killings, destruction and human suffering continue.”

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