Kharkiv, Sumy Region, Donbas, Odesa, Lviv Region, Kyiv Region... And this morning - Chernihiv. Buildings destroyed, wounded and affected individuals. Many lives were cut short – the lives of peaceful residents, rescuers, and defenders.
The head of the OCU, Metropolitan Epifaniy, wrote about the shelling of Chernihiv on Twitter (X).
"All of this is the devilish fruits of the war, which Russian religious leaders have called 'sacred.' If the fruits of this war are obvious, sheer evil, what exactly do Russian clerics, led by Patriarch Kirill, hold sacred? The answer to this is in the words of Christ: 'You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies' (John 8:44)," he noted.
The head of the OCU believes the ideology of the "Russian World" should be condemned as Nazism and Bolshevism, and the free world, which holds the powerful sword of modern weapons, has an obligation to defend the good against the aggression of evil.
"We must act immediately. Whoever does not oppose evil becomes its accomplice.
There is no excuse for politicians and leaders who delay in offering aid to Ukraine while desperately seeking pretexts to justify their fear of Kremlin tyranny.
The blood of the fallen today is on Russian criminals, but not only on them. Those who can provide protection but do not, let them also remember that they will answer to God. For when Christ condemns to eternal punishment those who did not give food to the hungry and clothing to the naked, although they could have done so (Matthew 25:41-43), then how will He judge those who could have protected life but did not?
To the injured - recovery, to the fallen - eternal peace, and let the criminals get the merciless retribution from God and humanity. And to the indecisive - a reminder and the courage not to wait on the sidelines but to stand up for the truth now," emphasized the Head of the OCU.