Epifaniy to Kirill: The lives of Russian soldiers became the price for your own ideas and those of your president

Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv appealed to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, in order to stop the unprovoked Russian invasion of the territories of Ukraine.

Commenting on the recent announcement by the Moscow Patriarch regarding the war, the Metropolitan of Kyiv stressed that “υnfortunately, it has become clear from your previous public statements that maintaining the goodwill of Putin and the leadership of the Russian Federation is much more important to you than caring for the people in Ukraine, some of whom considered you their shepherd before the war”.

“Therefore, it hardly makes sense to ask you to do something effective to stop Russia’s aggression against Ukraine immediately,” he continueδ.

Metropolitan Epifaniy pointed out that “there are more than three thousand dead Russian servicemen, whose bodies are on the soil of Ukraine”.

“The leadership of our country has already appealed to the International Red Cross to facilitate the return of the bodies of the Russian military to their homeland so that relatives and friends can say goodbye to them and give them burial. Unfortunately, no response has been received from the Russian side so far”.

Read below the appeal Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine to the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church

To the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church
Moscow Patriarch Kirill

Vladika!

For the fourth day, the unprovoked full-scale aggression of Russia, the state whose Orthodox Church you lead, against Ukraine continues. As a result of the war unleashed by the leadership of your country, millions of people are suffering, hundreds of thousands of children, women, and the elderly have been forced to seek a safer place, thus leaving their homes. Every day, our fellow citizens are forced to shelter for hours during the shelling of our cities by Russian troops. Soldiers and civilians are dying.

Unfortunately, it has become clear from your previous public statements that maintaining the goodwill of Putin and the leadership of the Russian Federation is much more important to you than caring for the people in Ukraine, some of whom considered you their shepherd before the war. Therefore, it hardly makes sense to ask you to do something effective to stop Russia’s aggression against Ukraine immediately.

However, I still remain hopeful that at least in relation to your own fellow citizens, most of whom are Orthodox Christians, your flock, you will find the spiritual strength to show humanity and care.

We are talking about more than three thousand dead Russian servicemen, whose bodies are on the soil of Ukraine. The leadership of our country has already appealed to the International Red Cross to facilitate the return of the bodies of the Russian military to their homeland, so that relatives and friends can say goodbye to them and give them burial. Unfortunately, no response has been received from the Russian side so far.

Therefore, I appeal to you, as the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, to please show mercy to your fellow citizens and flock. If you cannot raise your voice against aggression, at least take the bodies of Russian soldiers whose lives have become the price for the ideas of the “Russian world” – yours and your president.

May the Lord give you spiritual strength at least for this, especially today, on Sunday that commemorates the Last Judgment!

Epifaniy,

Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine,
Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine