On October 2, 2025, an ecumenical delegation of Christian church leaders and representatives from the Nordic countries visited Bucha as part of a solidarity visit program.
According to the press service of the OCU, at the Church of St. Andrew the First-Called, Archpriest Andriy Galavin and Taras Shapravsky, the secretary of the Bucha City Council, discussed the tragic events that occurred during the occupation. They also presented photographic evidence of Russian war crimes against civilians.
Those in attendance honored the memory of the victims of Russian aggression.
A joint prayer was held at the church for peace in Ukraine, for the innocent residents of Bucha who were killed, and for the Ukrainian soldiers defending the country.
Finland was represented by the Primate of the autonomous Finnish Orthodox Church, Archbishop Elia of Helsinki and All Finland. He was accompanied by his theological advisor and secretary, Elisei Heikkilä; Dean of the Joensuu Parish Fr. Aleksander Roszczenko; and Executive Director of the Church’s Diaconia Riina Nguyen. Additionally, Archbishop Tapio Luoma, Head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and his theological advisor, Juha Meriläinen, were part of the delegation.
Denmark was represented by the Primate of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark, Bishop of CopenhagenPeter Skov-Jakobsen, along with Academic Secretary Jonas Adelin Jørgensen. Norway was represented by Pastor Einar Tjelle, while Sweden was represented by Archbishop Emeritus Antje Jackelén of Uppsala and Theological Secretary Christopher Meakin.
The delegation was accompanied by Metropolitan Yevstratiy of Bila Tserkva, the deputy head of the Department for External Church Relations of the OCU, and Bishop Pavlo Shvarts of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ukraine.