Russia’s war on Ukraine aims to “eliminate the existence of the whole nation”, warned the leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Source: OSV News.
“We can testify that what is happening right now in Ukraine is genocide,” said Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk. “A state power (Russia) has … decided to eliminate the existence of a whole nation. People are killed in Ukraine because they are Ukrainians.”
The Archbishop joined Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, papal nuncio to Ukraine, for a February 14 online presentation titled “2014-2024: Ten Years of War in Ukraine.”
The webinar was organised by Aid to the Church in Need, which, under the guidance of the Pope, provides pastoral and humanitarian assistance to the persecuted Church in more than 145 countries. Founded in 1947 to support post-World War II victims, ACN counts more than 5000 projects per year.
Since Russia launched its attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, ACN has supplied $US17.7 million ($A27.1 million) in aid for priests and religious sisters, seminarian formation, trauma healing and vehicle purchases to provide transportation for outreach.
Major Archbishop Shevchuk said “the war in Ukraine is becoming more and more forgotten”, adding that “we can save many lives in the future” by continuing to speak out about the long-running war.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues attacks begun in 2014 with the illegal annexation of Crimea and the military backing of separatists in Ukraine’s Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Between 2014 and 2021, some 14,400 Ukrainians were killed and 39,000 injured, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Ukraine’s government states that since February 2022, Russia has killed more than 10,200 Ukrainian civilians and injured some 19,300, while committing close to 125,389 documented war crimes — including “wilful killing, torture, rape and other sexual violence,” according to a November 2023 United Nations commission of inquiry report.
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Russia’s war on Ukraine is ‘genocide,’ says Shevchuk (By Gina Christian, OSV News)
