Ukraine's Catholic bishops have urged prayers for peace and mourned newly deceased soldiers in a pastoral message, after a sharp escalation of fighting by between Government forces and pro-Russian separatists.
"Military conflict has again escalated in eastern Ukraine, resulting in the killing and wounding of Ukrainian soldiers", the country's Latin-rite bishops said in a statement.
"No political or social purpose can justify the additional perverse suffering of civilians. Ukraine needs peace - and no initiative for true peace can reach its goal without help from God, and without our mutual support".
The statement was issued as fighting continued around the government-controlled town of Avdiivka, near separatist-occupied Donetsk, leaving at least 35 dead by the start of this week. The bishops urged all Catholics to pray for peace, and said large parts of Avdiivka had already been left in freezing conditions "without water, electricity and heating".
Meanwhile, the head of Ukraine's larger Greek Catholic church accused Russian Orthodox leaders of "frivolously denying the obvious", by claiming to be "above the conflict" while "consistently defending Russia's national interests".
"If we were talking about a Russian domestic conflict - a war between citizens of the Russian Federation or members of the Russian Orthodox Church - then this church could act as an arbitrator", said Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych, whose Greek Catholic church combines eastern rites with loyalty to Rome. "In reality, the war against Ukraine is against an independent sovereign state and violates international law".
Fighting and shelling continued this week around Avdiivka, in the worst upsurge since 2015, despite a ceasefire agreed between Ukrainian, Russian and separatist representatives. Meanwhile, a top rebel commander, Oleg Anashchenko, was killed by a car bomb in the nearby self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, in what Ukrainian officials claimed was a power-struggle between rival separatist leaders.
In a statement, the Ukrainian Culture Ministry accused bishops from the country's largest Orthodox church, which is linked to the Moscow Patriarchate, of supporting "Russian Federation aggression", and warned that behaviour by some Orthodox clergy contradicted "the church leadership's commitment to defend Ukraine's territorial integrity".
A requiem for soldiers killed in the latest violence was staged in Kiev's Majdan Square, while the head of Ukraine's Christian Aid Service, Andriej Chmielenko, warned that plans were being blocked to evacuate civilians from Avdiivka and appealed for funds to buy food, oil and electricity generators for the besieged town.
In their appeal, the Catholic bishops expressed condolences "for those today mourning victims of the tragedy" and pledged the Church would not forget those "suffering the consequences of military operations in the occupied territories". Ukrainian newspapers said the escalation in fighting could reflect an attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to test the resolve of the new US administration.
PICTURE: Caritas Ukraine activities in Avdiivka, 30 kilometers from Donetsk (credit: Caritas Ukraine). Caritas is present in Ukraine via its two members, Caritas Ukraine and Caritas-SPES Ukraine. Both organisations have been actively working with victims and Internationally Displaced Persons since the start of the conflict in 2014.
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