(OSV News): Catholic and other religious leaders condemned the Palm Sunday attack by Russia on Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, that killed 34 people—including two children—and injured 119 more.
“When we celebrate the feast of life, the enemy wishes to inflict its feast of death on us,” said Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, in an April 13 statement.
Two ballistic missiles launched by Russia struck the centre of Sumy, some 24 kilometres from the Russian border.
The second missile was “likely packed with fragmentation elements” and “exploded in midair to inflict maximum damage on people in the city streets,” said Serhii Kryvosheienko of the Sumy Military Administration in a post on the Telegram social media platform.
He said the second strike “caused most of the casualties.”
“This is nothing but another crime against humanity,” said Major Archbishop Shevchuk.
When we celebrate the feast of life, the enemy wishes to inflict its feast of death on us
Archbishop Shevchuk
The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations, the largest organisation of religious leaders in Ukraine, also condemned the strikes, which took place amid both the Jewish holiday of Passover [April 12-20] and the Christian observance of Holy Week.
“Despite the festal period associated with the celebration of the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter, the Russian state continues to terrorize Ukrainian cities and villages day and night with drone and missile attacks, as well as shelling,” said the council in a statement.
The council added, “Such actions demonstrate that nothing is sacred for the state that declares itself to be ‘Holy Rus’,” referencing a longstanding theological and political concept that positions Russia as a defender of traditional Christian values.
Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, and Patriarich Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, have invoked the concept to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which continues attacks launched in 2014, and which has been declared a genocide in two joint reports from the New Lines Institute and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.
Such actions demonstrate that nothing is sacred for the state that declares itself to be ‘Holy Rus’
Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations
UCCRO said in its statement that Russia’s Palm Sunday strike showed “basic respect for the value of human life is absent, not to mention respect for the holidays of Christianity and Judaism.”
The attack drew condemnation from numerous heads of state, including French president, Emmanuel Macron; Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney; United Kingdom prime minister, Keir Starmer; and Moldovan president, Maia Sandu—who said in an April 13 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “Palm Sunday is a day of peace,” and that “there is no justification for such evil.”
Ukraine’s president, Voldymyr Zelenskyy, called for a global response to the strikes, which followed a similar April 4 attack by Russia on a playground in his hometown of Kryvyi Rih. Nine children were among the 20 killed in that strike.
“It is crucial that the world does not stay silent or indifferent,” said Zelenskyy in an April 13 post on X.
Earlier in April, the United Nations reported that during March, civilian casualties in Ukraine had risen 50 per cent since February, and 71 per cemt compared to the same time last year.
Zelenskky noted in his post that “it’s now the second month that Putin has been ignoring the US proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire … Action is needed to change this situation.”
