His Beatitude Onuphry addresses Russian prisoners of war

On August 18, 2022, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry received a group of Russian prisoners of war at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, who were brought by the initiative and assistance of journalist and blogger Vladimir Zolkin. The video of the meeting was published on Zolkin's YouTube channel.

His Beatitude Onuphry led a prayer service in one of the Lavra churches, after which he addressed the RF prisoners.

"I wish the Lord will return you to your homeland, families so that you can see mothers, sisters, wives, children, brothers, friends. I would like you to tell them the following words: we do not want the war being waged in Ukraine today. We do not want our cities and villages to be destroyed, our people and your people to perish. We do not want mothers in Ukraine or Russia to meet their dead sons and cry bitter, inconsolable tears over them. It must be stopped, and it can be stopped," said His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry.

His Beatitude said it is possible to stop the war, but not by the force of arms, not by the force of human truth, but by the force of divine love.

"We need to find a word of love that could silence the guns and stop the rockets. We want peace," the Metropolitan said. “Our Ukrainian Orthodox Church did everything to ensure that the Russian and Ukrainian peoples lived in peace, harmony and love. It turned out the way it did. But even if evil happened, it must be stopped. May the Lord give our rulers the courage, reason, and wisdom to find the word of love that stops all evil. I want to wish that God protects you and all people who are on the battlefield. War is not the means by which unity between peoples and families can be achieved. Violence cannot create unity, unity is created through love, which is God. The one who prays and fulfills divine commandments is a man of God. May God bless our lands with peace."

"I don't know if you understand it or not, but it shouldn't be like that (participation in the war – Ed.). You can't kill each other. Death brings no benefit to anyone, but only grief to every home. It is a shame that peoples who came out of a single baptismal font should fight each other. And we must do everything to stop this insanity," His Beatitude concluded.

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