Video Message of the Head of the UGCC on the 182nd Week of the Full-Scale War, August 10, 2025
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
Today is August 10, 2025, and tragically, Ukraine continues to count the days, nights, and weeks of this brutal war. This Sunday marks the 182 nd week since the full-scale invasion of criminal Russian troops into peaceful Ukrainian territory.
Although we all remember that the war began in 2014 and continues to claim lives in Ukraine every minute, this week—while the media in Europe and around the world have largely stopped reporting about Ukraine—every day our country shields the peace of Europe and the world with its own chest.
Today, we remember all those who gave their lives for Ukraine this week. We remember our Kherson and Odesa, Dnipro and Kharkiv, Sumy and Kyiv, and the Kyiv region, which have endured nightly strikes from the sky on our cities and villages.
We once again express our gratitude to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for their truly heroic deeds and heroic struggle. We are grateful to God and to our soldiers for the fact that we are alive.
This week, Ukraine has been closely following negotiations at the highest international level to finally end this brutal, bloody, and sacrilegious war. We heard the words of our President, who told the entire world that this war must end. But Ukrainians are asking God and world leaders for a just peace—so that the sacrifice will be honored in its suffering, and so that the unjust aggressor will be held accountable for all the repercussions of this war. A criminal and his victim cannot be placed on the same level.
We hope that in all these negotiations, the world will truly support Ukraine. And together we will do everything to stop the murderous hand of the Russian army, which, tragically, is taking away our right to exist and denying Ukraine’s sovereignty.
This week, we want the entire world to hear us say: Ukraine stands. Ukraine fights. Ukraine prays!
This week we celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. On this day, I had the opportunity to visit a unique city in Ukraine, which bears the name of our righteous Metropolitan Andrey — the city of Sheptytsky in the Lviv region. In addition to celebrating this great Christian feast, we joined the community of Sheptytsky in consecrating the Alley of Heroes, where people gathered, including the families of our fallen defenders.
We were able to be together, to look into the faces of our young men and women who gave their lives for Ukraine. We had the opportunity to touch the pain and wounds of our people. An elderly woman who had lost two sons and a grandson in this war looked me in the eyes and asked how she was supposed to go on living.
In such moments, we can find the answer only in God, for He is the Giver of life. We can only be together, pray for the eternal rest of our heroes, honor them, and express our gratitude to the mothers, wives, and children of the fallen. We can remain united, comforting one another and continuing to live together. Only in this way can we not only endure this wound of war but also transform pain into action — into works of mercy and love. Today, this pain is being transformed among our people into solidarity and mutual support. Together, we are growing in pure love for God and for our nation.
This Sunday, our Patriarchal Cathedral hosted a pilgrimage of medical workers. Today, medical workers and paramedics are truly among the heroes of this terrible war, for they are the first to take on the pain and suffering of our people. Sometimes we call them “wounded healers,” because they bear the wounds of this war while also healing the wounds of others.
We not only express our gratitude to our doctors but also pray for them. We seek to provide them with proper spiritual care by developing medical chaplaincy in our institutions and healthcare facilities, and by creating spaces for rehabilitation, recovery, and healing — especially for our medical workers.
On the following week, August 17, a truly momentous event will take place. Here in Kyiv, at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, we will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the restoration of the Kyiv Metropolia, which was liquidated by the Russian imperial authorities in 1839. We will also mark the 20th anniversary of the return of the seat of the Father and Head of the Church to Kyiv — the capital from which he had been exiled for centuries. Thirty years ago, we were reborn; twenty years ago, the Head of the Church returned home.
Upon returning to Kyiv, His Beatitude Lubomyr proclaimed a manifesto of “Unity and Cooperation of the Ukrainian Churches of the Volodymyr Baptism” under the slogan, “One People of God in the Land of the Kyiv Mountains.” He invited our Orthodox brothers to cooperate in the mutual striving for primacy in love.
As part of this jubilee’s scientific conference, we will reflect on the words of my great predecessor, renewing and reinterpreting them in light of today’s church, social, and state realities.
On the eve of this event, August 16, a youth pilgrimage to the Patriarchal Cathedral will take place. I invite everyone to participate in these profound and vital events. We are not only remembering the past — we are shaping the future.
Today we pray: Lord, bless our youth, bless our people, bless the Ukrainian government and our soldiers! Lord, bless the churches of Ukraine and inspire us all with a desire for unity and love!
“In unity lies the strength of the people; God, grant us unity.” This is what our people have been chanting for centuries. May this spiritual appeal be the soul and meaning of our jubilees today.
God, hear the prayers of Ukraine! Inspire the powerful of this world with thoughts and the spirit of Your peace! Bless our long-suffering Ukraine with Your 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.
Glory to Jesus Christ!
