From 9 to 11 December 2024, the European Ecumenical Consultation on a Just Peace, organised by the Conference of European Churches (CEC) in cooperation with the Polish Ecumenical Council, is taking place in Warsaw. The event brought together representatives of Christian churches from various European countries, including a large delegation from Ukraine.
On 11 December, the author, representing the Institute for Religious Freedom, delivered this report at the panel discussion "Just Peace and Human Rights".
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Much has been said at this conference about peace. It is very important. But in this context, I would like to refer to the Holy Scriptures. In particular, to the Book of Jeremiah, who says: "They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace" (Jeremiah 6:14).
These words, as never before, are most appropriate to the situation around Russia's war against Ukraine, which is being discussed here, and not only here.
Every day, the so-called "Orthodox" Russia, with the blessing and prayers of Moscow Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev, bombs peaceful Ukrainian cities, destroys entire residential neighbourhoods, and destroys homes and civilian infrastructure. And most importantly, it kills hundreds and thousands of innocent Ukrainian citizens every day. It kills them only because they are Ukrainians, because they do not want to become slaves of the godless "Tower of Babel", the Russian Empire, which is being restored in the north.
Of course, we all dream of peace. People talk about peace all the time, both in Ukraine and in the West. And even in Russia. Only Russia's talk of "peace" is an ultimatum from a rapist to a victim. The rapist rapes the victim and at the same time cynically calls for "peace", that is, for slavish submission to violence...
Unfortunately, sometimes in the West, including from some Western religious leaders, one hears the idea that perhaps Ukrainians should stop resisting for the sake of "peace". After all, in this way "peace" will come and innocent blood will stop flowing...
How fair are such proposals from a moral point of view? Isn't the call for the victim to submit to violence a moral complicity in such violence?
The prophet Isaiah said: "And the work of truth shall be peace, even the work of justice and quietness, and assurance forever" (Isaiah 32:17).
The Scriptures make it clear that true peace and tranquillity can only be built on truth and justice.
The Scriptures require all of us to speak the truth about this war, about its crimes, including those who inspire these crimes. This includes, among others, religious leaders.
Without truth and justice, without stopping evil, it is impossible to achieve a just peace and tranquillity. "Peace" based on a lie is a continuation of "legalised" violence. After all, a rapist who understands only the "language of force" perceives his violence as a "legitimate right". Feeling impunity, he becomes even more entrenched in the evil he commits.
Unfortunately, Ukraine has already had experience of such a "peace" with Russia based on a lie in its history. In 1919-1920, the independent Ukrainian state was occupied by Bolshevik Russia. The world, tired of long wars, agreed to this sacrifice for the sake of "peace". But did it bring real peace? During the "peaceful" years of the Moscow-Bolshevik occupation of Ukraine, the number of victims here was many times higher than all the wars of the 20th century combined. Repressions and mass terror against the Ukrainian population, "dekulakisation" campaigns and the artificially provoked Holodomor claimed several tens of millions of civilian lives in Ukraine in "peacetime". In peacetime, the genocide of the Ukrainian people was being committed under the silent inaction of the world. This was the price of "peace" with Moscow in the 20th century.
Being well aware of this price of "peace", Ukrainians no longer want to be under Moscow's yoke again. They do not want such a "peace" with Moscow. That is why they are resisting the Russian aggressor so desperately and fiercely.
If I may, I will give you just one small example here. In February-March 2022, my hometown of Chernihiv was besieged by Russian occupation forces. Having encircled the city in a tight ring that no one could even escape from and shooting those who tried to break out of the encirclement, the Russians began bombing the outskirts of the city every day, destroying civilian neighbourhoods. Their main demand was that the city surrender without resistance, and then they would stop bombing. This was their offer of "peace". Our neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city, where my elderly parents and my brother and his family lived, was almost completely bombed by the Russians. The water supply, gas pipeline and electricity networks were destroyed. My parents had to live in a cold cellar with no electricity, water or heat. They had to cook their meals outside on a fire and fetch drinking water from a dirty river. Rockets were exploding right in our yard. Every day we said goodbye to our parents as if it were the last time and, crying, asked each other for forgiveness in case we would never see each other again...
Then, due to the constant bombardment, this neighbourhood was completely cut off from the city, it was impossible to get there by any means, and the internet and telephone connection stopped working. When, at my request, my friends finally managed to break through to take my parents to a safer part of the city, my 80-year-old father categorically refused to leave his house, which he had once built with his own hands. He said that this was his home and his land, and he would defend them to the last. After praying, he picked up an axe and said that if the Russian invaders broke into the house, he would take at least one of them with him to the next world... We never managed to convince him to leave with us... Barricaded in his own house, he was preparing for death... For several weeks, there was no news from him... Thank God, the Russians never managed to capture Chernihiv. The people of Chernihiv heroically defended their city. My father survived. But this small episode characterises how our people perceive this war. And why they are so desperate to resist the occupation.
The video of the bombing of Chernihiv by the Russian occupiers in March 2022 was presented during the speech of:
This is just one small example. There were and are many such cases.
This is, in particular, about how many of our people perceive talk of "peace at any cost". It's not just about territories. It's about the right to live freely on your native land.
The other day, the newly elected US President Donald Trump, speaking about peace, called the thousands of casualties on the part of Ukraine during this war "meaningless". Of course, we cannot agree with this assessment. The struggle for freedom and independence can never be "meaningless". Moreover, it is worth remembering that the price for not opposing violence and tyranny can be even higher...
Speaking of peace, it is worth remembering what the aggressor state does to civilians in the occupied territories. Repression and terror against anyone who does not support the occupation is a daily horrific reality in the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. Even priests are being shot. Recently, there have been many cases of torture and executions of clergymen of the OCU, UGCC, and Protestant Churches. Those who call for the occupied Ukrainian territories to be left to Russia thereby assume moral responsibility for complicity in these crimes. After all, they are calling for these people to be sacrificed for the sake of a pretend "peace". Have they thought about this? Are they ready to share this responsibility?
Turning to the Holy Scriptures, I would like to recall the words of the Apostle Paul: "While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction will come upon them" (1 Thessalonians 5:3). So we must be careful when we speak of "peace at any cost".
Once again, the Scriptures are clear that true peace and tranquillity can only be built on truth and justice (Isaiah 32:17).
What can religious leaders of the free world do to help? First of all, by telling the truth and exposing evil. Unfortunately, the Christian Churches of the West do not speak the truth enough about the causes of the war and its perpetrators. For fear of "irritating" the aggressor, they do not speak enough about its crimes. The voices that would expose the criminal quasi-religious ideology of the "Russian world" that is the basis for justifying Russia's war against Ukraine are rather weak. Almost no voices are heard exposing the anti-Gospel position of Moscow Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev, who blesses, inspires and justifies this criminal war in every way. The Kremlin regime uses certain religious organisations as a tool to propagate its narratives in the West and achieve its foreign policy goals.
Obviously, taking a stand for truth and justice, the Christian Churches of Europe should be more vocal in exposing this evil and its perpetrators. It is necessary to more effectively encourage the religious community to engage the Christian Churches in the search for a just peace. In particular, through constant appeals to religious organisations of the Russian Federation, encouraging them to advocate for an end to Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, mass killings of Ukrainian civilians, etc.
This year, at Easter, there were attempts on the Ukrainian side to initiate calls from Christian leaders for a cessation of hostilities and the exchange of prisoners of war on both sides under the "all for all" formula. Unfortunately, not all Christian leaders have made statements in support of such initiatives. And, unfortunately, in Russia itself, the authorities refused to listen to such proposals. They refused not only to suspend hostilities on the occasion of Easter, but even to exchange prisoners on the basis of the "all for all" formula.
Soon we will all be celebrating the bright Christmas season. But unfortunately, in Ukraine, this Christmas joy will continue to be overshadowed by the horrors and suffering of Russia's unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. As you celebrate Christmas, I ask all of you to remember in your prayers the Ukrainians who continue to suffer and die at this very moment...
In conclusion, I would like to address all those present with a proposal that on behalf of the Conference of European Churches we initiate a call for a cessation of hostilities on the occasion of Christmas and the exchange of prisoners of war on the basis of the formula ‘all for all’. Beyond talk, this would be a step towards achieving a just peace.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Serhii Shumylo,
expert at the Institute for Religious Freedom,
Director of the International Institute of the Athonite Legacy,
Research Fellow in the Department of Classics, Ancient History, Religion and Theology, University of Exeter (UK)