Statement of the Ukrainian Council of Churches

During the night of 29 November 2025, the Russian Federation carried out another massive terrorist attack using missiles and UAVs against Kyiv, towns and villages of the Kyiv region, and other regions of Ukraine. As a result of this Russian terrorist strike, civilian and critical infrastructure was destroyed or damaged, including energy facilities and residential buildings; civilians were killed and injured. In recent weeks, Russian terrorists have also launched missile, drone, and bomb attacks on Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Odesa, Ternopil, and other Ukrainian cities, killing dozens of civilians and destroying residential buildings, hospitals, kindergartens, schools, and more.

The Russian Federation, taking advantage of the insufficient reaction of democratic states and using its lobbyists and various agents of influence in NATO and EU countries and beyond, continues to commit systematic terror against the civilian population of Ukraine. If the crimes of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people are not stopped and punished, other countries of Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe will inevitably become the next targets of Russian state terrorism. This evil will also reach those countries that believe they are sufficiently protected or think that they can make agreements with Russia, trade with it, and that everything will be fine. Such a policy of appeasement does not lead to peace or good. True peace is possible only when peacebuilding efforts are combined with strengthening Ukraine in accordance with the formula “peace through strength.”

The actions of the Russian Federation clearly demonstrate that it is a terrorist state, and those Russian citizens who support this war and these killings are complicit in crimes against humanity.

We strongly condemn the terrorist attacks of the Russian Federation on Ukrainian cities and villages. We once again emphasize that any support for the Russian Federation, including “shadow” trade schemes, is tantamount to encouraging Russia’s further aggression and terror, and therefore entails moral responsibility and accountability before the Almighty.

We call on representatives of churches and religious organizations, international interfaith and interchurch institutions, as well as representatives of NGOs and the media, to condemn the crimes of the Russian Federation and to make every necessary effort to counter Russian disinformation at the global level.

We call on the world’s leading democratic nations, alongside peacebuilding efforts, to increase the provision of effective defense and protection means to Ukraine and to intensify pressure on the Russian Federation in order to compel it to cease its military aggression against Ukraine and to establish a just and lasting peace.

We once again take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all foreign religious leaders and believers of various denominations, to politicians, and to people of goodwill across different countries for supporting the Ukrainian people, for their prayers for an end to Russian military aggression, and for the establishment of a just and durable peace for Ukraine and Europe.

Kyiv, November 29, 2025