At a time when everyone has to work today under the sword of Damocles of the Great War, and the statements of state leaders do not always inspire optimism that humanity will be able to resolve all conflict issues with dignity and justice, the UCU rector's office on November 30 published an appeal to the university community called "prerequisites for our success".
Source: UCU
The main message of the document is to be prepared for any development of events. And to achieve this, let us cultivate faith in God's foundations of this world, trust in one another, and a willingness to sacrifice.
"It is becoming more and more obvious: Putin wants us to fear this war. Well, as one columnist said, you need to be wary of it, in particular, you need to prepare for it. But there is no fear of war. We will not bring such pleasure to the Kremlin dictator. Fear paralyzes a person and makes him a toy in the hands of the one who scares. Therefore, even today, when Russian troops paint their banners in the colors of war, the instruction of His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar remains relevant: "we work as if everything depends on us; we pray as if everything depends on God."
Ukraine, despite our complaints, is changing so rapidly that the Kremlin realizes that just a little more and you will never get Ukraine back. But there is also a part of our work in the fact that Ukraine is changing. In the 1990s, the slogan "Ukraine is not Russia" was mostly a declaration. The Ukrainian Maidan events and the sacrificial work of many Ukrainians have made it a reality. Of course, the rudiments of the ancient little Russian pacification still happen, but these are more likely residual birthmarks and not the natural color of our public face," the report says.
UCU is grateful to our soldiers for holding back the enemy: "their strong spirit and modern weapons are a prerequisite for their success. At UCU, together with other universities, we have our own "front" – to transform our society, so that the long-standing phrase "we all come from October" sounds in Ukraine as the same oxymoron as, let's say, in today's Estonia. On this 'front', the prerequisites for our success are also a strong spirit and our modern 'weapons': a decent word and knowledge based on the values of the Decalogue."
The appeal notes that the current lawlessness of impunity, which still traumatizes us, is an illustration of the "chaos" for Kremlin strategists, which they themselves feed in order to "curb" with joy later. By this, they will know that there is still a small hope of winning us back. "Therefore, our task is to turn the mentioned arbitrariness into the freedom of responsible people," the UCU Rector's Office urges and adds:
"UCU is one of those important islands where this transformation is successfully carried out. Let the "military dance" in the Northeast, which paint our horizon in red flashes of threat, only mobilize us for this work! Let us not be discouraged by annoying failures in the highest echelons of power, when interests prevail over values. As a university that has the word "Ukrainian" in its name for a reason, we must be prepared for any development of events. And to achieve this, let us cultivate faith in God's foundations of this world, trust in one another, and a willingness to sacrifice.
And remember: not Putin, but God is the Lord of human history. Therefore, we will do everything in our power to make sure that he, Putin, sees this truth soon."