Address by the Head of the UGCC for the 232nd Week of the Full-Scale War, July 26, 2026
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
This Sunday marks the 232nd week of the murderous, horrific, and sacrilegious war that Russia continues to wage on peaceful Ukrainian soil. It saddens us deeply that once again we not only count the days and nights of this war, but also mourn the dead, comfort the wounded, and take in new waves of refugees. Every day, this war brings blood, tears, pain, and misery to Ukrainian land.
This week, our heroic Kyiv was once again targeted by Russian strikes—using ballistic missiles—both day and night. Let’s think about this: on the night of July 19, 40 Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv within 40 minutes—missiles designed to hit aircraft carriers, yet they struck peaceful neighborhoods in Kyiv where there are no military targets.
What is particularly disturbing is that, once again, international law was violated, given the deployment of cluster munitions—weapons deliberately used to kill civilians.
The voice of Odesa and the Odesa region echoes in our hearts today with particular pain. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the Russians are shelling Odesa, the port of Odesa, and the region’s port infrastructure. Maritime traffic in the Black Sea has come to a halt. There is no shipping anymore. Russia has declared its waters in the Black Sea unsafe and, in just one month, has attacked nearly three hundred ships calling at Ukrainian ports.
This week, a civilian vessel carrying Ukrainian grain was deliberately targeted. Dozens of sailors were killed, and hundreds were wounded. Thus, this “corridor of life,” through which Ukrainian grain fed millions of people around the world, has been closed. And today, there is talk of a major threat to global food security.
Nevertheless, we are grateful to all those who stood in solidarity with Ukraine this week as well. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations of the Holy See, has concluded his visit to Ukraine. Indeed, His Excellency has returned to the Vatican as a voice and witness to heroic Ukraine—a people who, even in such incredibly dramatic circumstances, live a life of deep piety, particularly through their filial devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
I would especially like to thank a great friend of Ukraine, the illustrious American journalist George Weigel, for his brilliant article on Ukraine at this tragic moment. He asserts that what is happening in Ukraine is no longer a war. It is state terrorism. He noted that the goal of this terrorism is to destroy the very morale of the nation and break its spirit. He observed that Ukraine is witnessing a major fiasco of Russia’s aggressive policy, much like the fiasco of Hitler’s so-called “Blitzkrieg” against London. He argues that were the renowned journalist who commented on the German dictator’s then-failed plans to be in Ukraine today, Quentin Reynolds would say of Kyiv today what he said of London back then—Kyiv can take it.
Indeed, we are witnessing that a faithful people, trusting in the Lord God and invoking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, will endure. Therefore, once again we say: we suffer. But Ukraine stands, Ukraine fights, Ukraine prays!
For our people in Ukraine, this summer is a time of numerous pilgrimages to various shrines and Marian centers, where we find comfort before many miraculous icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
But there is a new and special place of pilgrimage in honor of Blessed Martyr Symeon Lukach in the village of Starunya in the Carpathian region. This week, on July 29, a large vigil will be held for the first time to remember the fallen and pray for their families, and all those who suffered during the war.
This village, which was the birthplace of an underground bishop—a father of the underground, suffering, and crucified Church—has been transformed by the Lord into a place of healing for the wounds of war. We are grateful to all our bishops who consistently lead these vigils, which take place on the 29th day of every month.
We see, however, how our people transform their pain into prayer, and how blood and tears only strengthen us—as our friend George Weigel so aptly observed.
And this week we commemorated the first martyrs of the Kyiv Church, Borys and Hlib—martyrs who can be called heroes of nonviolent resistance. Amid the power struggle among the grandsons of Prince Volodymyr, Equal to the Apostles, these two brothers refused to resist their villainous brother Sviatopolk and perished at his hands—one by the sword, the other by the spear. The faithful immediately recognized in them the Lamb of God, Christ, who voluntarily took upon himself suffering and death in order to wash away, with his own blood, the sins of his people and save them from war and discord.
Today we pray: Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princes Volodymyr and Olha, the Baptizers of Ukraine; our holy martyrs—both those from the early decades of Christian Kyiv and Ukraine, Borys and Hlib, and our blessed hieromartyrs, whom John Paul II bestowed upon the Church 25 years ago, among them Symeon Lukach, intercede for Ukraine, that the Lord God may finally put an end to this sacrilegious war and bless our land with His just, heavenly peace!
The blessing of the Lord be upon you, through His grace and love for mankind, always, now and forever, and for the ages of ages. Amen.
