No one can afford to be silent in the face of the bloodshed happening in Ukraine, said the leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk. The archbishop said this in a video message on Saturday.
The major archbishop is based in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, the sun has risen after another difficult night.
“It rises above the Ukrainian Kyiv, Kyiv that wins. Above the city of Kyiv that has passed another night, difficult but blessed by God,” Shevchuk said.
Shevchuk has thanked all those who have been speaking up in support of Ukraine. Russia launched a full-scale attack on the country on the morning of 24 February.
“In these minutes, when blood is shed on the Ukrainian land, when Patriarch Josyf’s words of ‘mountains of corpses and rivers of blood’ are repeated, in all our cities, along all the banks of our beautiful Dnipro River — from the Belarusian border through Kyiv and all the way to the Black Sea — no one has the right to stay silent,” he stated.
“Because speech can save lives,” he added. “While silence can kill.”
“Today I ask everyone who will listen to us, everyone, who will hear our voice from our bleeding Kyiv: fight for peace, protect those who need your help, let us do everything so that the aggressor stops and withdraws from Ukrainian land. Whoever you are: heads of states or parliaments, politicians, military, church leaders, do your part, speak out in support of Ukraine,” he said.
Saturday marked the third day of fighting in Ukraine, where the death toll among both military and civilians continues to rise.