PATRIARCH Kirill of Moscow has congratulated the leaders of four occupied regions in Ukraine on the anniversary of their annexation, wishing them “courage, fortitude, and success in working for the benefit of Russia”.
“This event testified to the sincere desire of Donbas residents to be with Russia — I pray that God fills us with faith, hope, and love, restoring peace and unanimity in all the countries of Holy Russia,” the Patriarch said in a message to the Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin.
“I am sincerely grateful for your attention to the Russian Orthodox Church’s activities, and convinced that our co-operation can deliver many more good fruits.”
The greeting was sent as Russian missiles and glide bombs again rained down on Ukrainian population centres, killing at least six people at a market in Kherson, and injuring others in Zaporizhzhia.
In similar letters to leaders of the three other occupied areas, Patriarch Kirill said that local residents had made “a fateful choice to open a new page in the fatherland’s history” in 2022 referendum votes, which were rejected by the United Nations and foreign governments. He expressed a hope of working closely with the authorities in each region to “affirm enduring moral values in the minds of people”.
The annexation anniversary, marked by concerts and ceremonies across Russia, coincided with wreath-laying and memorial services for the national Day of Defenders in Ukraine, on Tuesday.
Preaching in Lviv after visiting the city’s military cemetery, the head of Ukraine’s independent Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Epiphany (Dumenko), praised soldiers who continued to “repel the Russian onslaught”, and those who “in ancient times and recent history, stood and stand in defence of truth, dignity and freedom for the Ukrainian people”.
In a message, the Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, said that 55,000 Ukrainian servicemen and civilians were currently missing, and urged prayers for their future “victorious return home”.