Primate of the OCU, Metropolitan Epifaniy appealed to Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox church with a request to take the bodies of his soldiers who broke into Ukraine and died for the idea of the "Russian World".
This is stated in his Appeal to the Patriarch of Moscow.
"Unfortunately, it is already clear from your previous public statements that maintaining the commitment of Putin and the Russian leadership is much more important for you than taking care of the people in Ukraine, some of whom considered you their pastor before the war. Therefore, it hardly makes sense to ask you to do something effective so that Russia's aggression against Ukraine immediately stops," the document says.
The Primate of the OCU has expressed a hope that Kirill finds spiritual resources to manifest his humanism and care at least for his fellow citizens.
"We are talking about more than three thousand killed Russian servicemen, whose bodies are on the ground of Ukraine. The leadership of our country has already appealed to the International Red Cross to facilitate the return of the bodies of Russian soldiers to their homeland so that relatives and friends can say goodbye to them and bury them. Unfortunately, no response has been received from the Russian side so far," Metropolitan Epifaniy notes.
"Therefore, I appeal to you, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church: show at least mercy to your fellow citizens and flock. If you can't raise your voice against aggression - at least help take away the bodies of Russian soldiers who paid with their lives for the ideas of the "Russian world" - yours and your president's.
May the Lord give you spiritual strength at least for this, especially today – on Sunday memories of the Last Judgment!".