His Beatitude Sviatoslav commented on the initiative of the Ukrainian authorities to forcibly evacuate children from Bakhmut with one of their parents or guardians.
The head of the UGCC acknowledged that forced evacuations from one's home are always a dramatic experience. Nevertheless, he emphasized that the main goal of such measures is to save human lives, as reported by the Information Department of the UGCC.
The Head of the UGCC stated that the Church has been providing social services since the start of the full-scale war and has always responded to initiatives to evacuate people from areas that pose a direct threat to life.
"We have evacuated children, women, and elders from under bullets. We have tried to reach temporary agreements on green corridors to save human lives," His Beatitude Sviatoslav recalled.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav stated his support for the evacuation initiative to safer regions, noting that there are serious grounds for evacuation from Bakhmut, which is the epicenter of the military confrontation. "I would ask all civilians in Bakhmut to think about how to evacuate as soon as possible. We all believe this is a temporary evacuation, that our Ukraine will liberate all its still occupied territories, and all our IDPs will be able to return to their homes."
When it comes to rescuing children, the primary concern is to ensure that one of their relatives evacuates with them so that they can be later transferred to the care of responsible individuals.
Therefore, the Primate of the UGCC asserts that the Church is doing everything possible to provide internally displaced persons with a welcoming human community, no matter where they are evacuated. "Let us stand in solidarity with those whose lives are in immediate danger," urged His Beatitude Sviatoslav.