Patriarch Sviatoslav spoke about the actions of the UGCC in times of war
This was stated by the head of the UGCC in an interview with Novoye Vremya.
"In the war zone, they unanimously decided to stay put, to be with their people. We were there ourselves, and we helped others leave. We tried to arrange bomb shelters, feed these people, clothe them and deliver the necessary assistance. But at the same time, help those people who want to move – transport, advice, contacts, and so on. We set up logistics to supply humanitarian supplies to those hot spots.
In the area adjacent to the hot spots, we have created logistics centers and Refugee Assistance Centers that are on the way. For example, in the first weeks, the only road of life used by millions from East to West was from Uman to Vinnytsia and then to Khmelnytskyi (because the Kyiv-Zhytomyr highway was closed). This route was not adapted for the simultaneous movement of so many people. It was possible to get from Uman to Khmelnytskyi or Lviv in at least 27 hours. Just imagine the mass of people on the road all these days. And then we tried to help fill up the car, feed those people, warm them up, dress them. When someone wanted to, we created an opportunity for them to spend the night.
On the other hand, we did everything possible to get other trucks moving from West to East. There were circumstances when drivers sometimes did not have much courage to move further east – they reached the south of the Kyiv region, the Zhytomyr region, or the Vinnytsia region. So it was necessary to unload this large cargo on smaller buses and dispatch it along the field roads to where it was most needed. It was a huge effort. But such logistics centers have started working here. I visited them, and I was amazed by the ingenuity of our priests and the immense activity of the volunteers. Without volunteers and spontaneous responses from people from different churches who joined the mission of our church, it would have been difficult to do all this.
And the third zone is a calmer Western Ukraine, which accepted refugees. It was necessary to accommodate them at someplace, provide a roof over their heads, provide housing conditions, in particular for women and children," Patriarch Svyatoslav said.
