The leaders of the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Churches of the USA condemned the fact of the Russian attack on the energy system and citizens of Ukraine on the night of March 22, 2024, when more than 60 kamikaze drones and almost 90 missiles of various types, including ballistic ones, were used.
Statement of religious leaders regarding Russian attacks on the Ukrainian power grid
“For you Lord, give light to my lamp, my God brightens my darkness.”
[Psalm 18, 29]
On the night of March 22, Russia launched its largest attack against Ukraine’s energy system, deploying over 60 kamikaze drones and almost 90 missiles. Dozens of power facilities were damaged, including thermal and hydroelectric power stations, high-voltage networks, and regional energy grids.
Millions of civilians across the Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Khmelnytskyi, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Kharkiv regions now face massive power outages and crippling energy shortages, endangering the most vulnerable and threatening all life-support systems. Kharkiv, a city of 1.5 million inhabitants, is particularly stricken as Russian attacks targeted its main energy facilities, leaving residents without electricity, heat, and hot water on a night when temperatures will plummet below freezing.
We, leaders of religious organizations in the United States, condemn these Russian attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure as war crimes. We beseech the religious leaders of Russia, especially Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, to stop supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine and to urge President Putin to halt terror attacks aimed at innocent civilians. We likewise urge our government and civic authorities to utilize all available just means to protect Ukraine and its people from this brutal aggression.
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
[John 1:5]
We stand firm in our resolve: do not allow the darkness to prevail over the light.