Our future depends on our readiness to retaliate with determination, Patriarch Filaret comments on aggression near Kerch

Patriarch Filaret made public an appeal against a new act of open armed aggression against Ukraine in the Kerch Strait. The Primate urged all faithful to pray for victory and peace for Ukraine. According to him, this is “a fair share of contribution to the common cause that each of you can make.”

We bring to your attention the document in full:

APPEAL

of Patriarch Filaret of Kyiv and All Rus-Ukraine

regarding a new act of unconcealed armed aggression against Ukraine

Dear brothers and sisters, fellow citizens!

On November 25, 2018, a new act of unconcealed armed aggression against Ukraine occurred at sea near the Russia-occupied Crimean city of Kerch - Ukrainian warships were attacked and captured, our sailors were wounded and taken prisoners.

Until now, the Kremlin has been trying to lie to hide its aggression against the Ukrainian state, using troops without distinctive signs, under the cover of local collaborators, talking about the “civil war in Donbas” and “self-determination of the people of Crimea”. On November 25, 2018, the Russian Federation committed an open act of aggression against Ukraine, which it no longer conceals.

The Ukrainian people can only give one answer to this attack - to courageously oppose the enemy, protecting their native land, in defense of their statehood and freedom.

After more than three hundred years we lived in slavery, being brought to submission by the empire - and learned from experience all the bitterness of serfdom. It is just these days that we celebrate the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor-genocide of 1932-33, the main prerequisite for which was the loss by the Ukrainian people of their own statehood and the enslavement of our region by the Kremlin aggressor. In making conclusions from the past, we must be far-sighted and understand: the future for each corner of Ukraine, the future of future generations, the future of all Ukrainian people depends on our readiness to retaliate against the invader.

I urge politicians to put aside arguments and unite. After all, if the enemy destroys our statehood – what offices will you take care of, where will you govern? I call for the unification of all Ukrainian society, for, without victory, there will be no real peace, prosperity, or a happy future for each of us.

Again, I turn my voice to the killers of their brothers - the new Cains, who, calling our people their brothers, came to our house to shed blood and to enslave us: Get down and stop doing evil! Hide your sword and get back to your house!

You are not afraid of the human law nor the consequences of your own crimes. You think that you can hide everything, but the right of a strong one is to justify it. Therefore, know and remember: God sees everything and pays tribute to everyone! “Take notice, you senseless ones among the people; you fools, when will you become wise? Does he who fashioned the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see? Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches mankind lack knowledge? But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge. He will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness, the Lord our God will destroy them.” (Psalm 93).

The Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate calls for God's blessing on Ukrainian soldiers who defend the country from the aggressor and for our entire state. Remember: truth is with us, therefore God is with us, and where God is, there is victory!

I call on all faithful to pray for victory and peace for Ukraine – a fair share of contribution to the common cause that each of you can make.

I understand how at this time, excitement and concern reached the hearts of many. Therefore, in the end, I want, dear brothers and sisters, to recall the words of the Scriptures – and let your heart have no doubt that truth and power of God will defeat the newest Cains and the new Pharaoh, from whose bondage the Lord is leading Ukraine out.

“As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”(Exodus 14: 10-14).

“For the Lord will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance.." (Psalm 93).