Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Patriarch Filaret believes that the war in Donbas is a punishment for godlessness and other sins. In his view, the Russian aggressor will be punished by God for the invasion of Ukraine, as happened with Nazi Germany in its time. He was reported as saying this in an interview with Apostrophe, IA ZIK reports.
“God allowed the aggressor - Russia – to invade Donbas, where the aggressor has killed and is killing people. The whole world is witnessing how the terrible weapons intended to kill people – ‘Grad’, ‘Uragan’, ‘Smerch’ were being imported. But this aggressor will be punished by God, like God punished Germany for aggression. Hitler shot himself, Germany was divided and suffered after the Second World War, it suffered for a long time. Therefore, God will punish this aggressor as well, the sin cannot remain unpunished,” Patriarch Filaret told.
“Today people in eastern Ukraine are suffering more, not in the West. Why? Because there are much more atheists than in the west. If they do not repent and turn to God, the suffering will continue, as the suffering continues and brings disease if not treated. It is the homeland of the so-called proletariat, the people who were brought in impiety and who maintain this atheism. The churches have been built in the east, particularly in Donbas, a great number of them, but people do not go to churches, do not live according to God's law. In Donbas 75 million lived and seemingly all churches were filled, but they are almost empty. People should turn to God - and then God will instantly change everything.
I do not claim that all Donbas residents are atheists and all people in Eastern Ukraine are believers. No! But the experience and opinion polls show that there are more atheists than believers in the east. Therefore everyone is suffering, as it was the case in the Soviet Union because of militant atheism implanted by the power, the entire nation suffered. I know from personal experience, because I was born and raised in Donbas. I was like this in my childhood. But when the war came (with Nazi Germany - Ed.), many turned to God through suffering, churches were opened, people asked for help - and God helped to counter the aggressor and win that war.