On October 2, 2025, an ecumenical delegation of leaders and representatives of the Christian Churches of the Nordic countries visited Bucha as part of a solidarity mission.
Finland was represented by Archbishop Elia of Helsinki and All Finland, Primate of the Autonomous Orthodox Church of Finland (under the Ecumenical Patriarchate); his theological advisor and secretary, Elisei Heikkilä; the parish priest of Joensuu, Fr. Alexander Roshchenko; and the executive director of the Church’s charitable organization Philanthropy, Riina Nguyen.
Also attending were Archbishop Tapio Luoma, head of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland, and his theological advisor, Juha Meriläinen.
The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Denmark was represented by its Primate, Bishop of Copenhagen Peter Skov-Jakobsen, and academic secretary Jonas Adelin Jørgensen. From Norway participated Pastor Einar Tjelle, and from Sweden, Archbishop Emerita of Uppsala Antje Jackelén together with theological secretary Kristoffer Miekin.
The delegation was accompanied by Metropolitan Yevstratii of Bila Tserkva, Deputy Head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and Bishop Pavlo Schwarz of the German Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Ukraine.
At the Church of St. Andrew the First-Called, parish priest Fr. Andriy Halavin and Bucha City Council Secretary Taras Shapravskyi spoke about the tragic events of the occupation and presented photographic evidence of Russian war crimes against civilians.
Members of the delegation honored the memory of the victims of Russian aggression. A joint prayer was then held in the church for peace in Ukraine, for the innocent residents of Bucha who lost their lives, and for the Ukrainian soldiers defending their homeland.
