Donetsk diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)

This term has other meanings, see Donetsk and Mariupol diocese.

Donetsk diocese

- diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate with its center in Donetsk. Unites parishes and monasteries in the southern part of the Donetsk region.

History[ | ]

In 1779-1780, the predominantly Greek Orthodox community moved from Crimea to the area of ​​​​present-day Mariupol, led by Metropolitan Ignatius of Gotthia (Gozadinos), who retained the right of an independent diocesan bishop over the settlers in the new place, being the suffragan bishop of the Slavic and Kherson diocese (later known like Ekaterinoslavskaya). After his death in 1786, the parishes founded by the settlers were transferred to the Ekaterinoslav diocese. In the 19th century, the resettlement of Orthodox Greeks and Bulgarians to this region continued.

For the first time, the Donetsk diocese itself appeared during the period of German occupation in January 1943 as part of the Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church, which maintained communion with the Russian Orthodox Church (from January to September 1943, Bishop of Donetsk Dimitri (Magan))[1][2]. In May 1944, Nikon (Petin) was appointed Bishop of Voroshilovgrad and Donetsk by the Moscow Patriarchate. With the appointment of Bishop Nikon to the Kherson See in 1949, the administration of the Donetsk See was also left to him (the diocesan administration was located in the city of Gorlovka). This order of management of the Donetsk see continued until 1990, when the Donetsk diocese received a bishop who controlled only the Donetsk diocese, while the diocesan administration and residence of the bishop were located in the city of Lugansk.

On September 6, 1991, the Lugansk diocese was separated from the Donetsk diocese. And only from this moment on, a diocesan administration appears in Donetsk, St. Nicholas Church on Larinka becomes a full-fledged cathedral. From January to March 1992, the diocesan center moved again to Gorlovka, since the clergy of Donetsk did not accept Metropolitan Leonty (Gudimov). After the death of the metropolitan, the temporary administration of the diocese is entrusted to the Lugansk bishop, and the administration of the diocese (from March to May 1992) is again carried out from the city of Lugansk.

On July 29, 1994, the Gorlovka diocese was separated from Donetsk, which included the northern borders of the Donetsk region.

In 2004, the Svyatogorsk Monastery, which was subordinate to the Gorlovka diocese, received the status of a monastery and was subordinated to the Donetsk diocese (despite its territorial affiliation with the Gorlovka diocese).

In June 2009, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' performed the rite of minor consecration of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Donetsk[3].

How Donetsk lives: Orthodox Church

The activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) on the territory of the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LDNR) are the subject of all kinds of “fakes,” speculation and speculation. The Ukrainian media paid especially close attention to this topic in 2014–2015. Today their ardor has cooled, but journalists and experts, as a rule, still cannot cope with emotions and impartially talk about what is happening. The analytical portal RuBaltic.Ru tried to figure out what situation the UOC MP found itself in in the territories not controlled by Kyiv.

The religious factor of the war in Donbass

Since independence, Orthodoxy in Ukraine has been in a state of crisis caused by interfaith strife. It was never possible to overcome it; the tangle of contradictions between the main “players”, the UOC of the Moscow and Kyiv Patriarchates, as well as the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), has become completely tangled over the past years.

Apparently, no one was seriously interested in the question of the unity of Orthodox Christians. Ukrainian politicians of all stripes either did not find any personal benefit in this, or were afraid to disturb the “hornet’s nest” of religion, and church hierarchs were content with the fact that they had full power in their parishes. But both of them were active in the field of spiritual schism.

Particularly distinguished were the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko and the head of the non-canonical UOC-KP Filaret, who together tried to “push through” the project of creating a single local Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

The third President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko (left) and the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate Filaret (Denisenko) / Photo: UNIAN
It was on the foundation of the Kiev Patriarchate, ignoring the interests of other faiths, that Yushchenko wanted to build his “new building”. At the same time, the ex-president tried to enlist the support of the ecumenical patriarch, who had a difficult relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church, but Constantinople did not meet him halfway. “Lobbying the interests of the UOC-KP turned out to be ineffective, and pressure on the UOC was sporadic and situational,” Archbishop of Uman (UAOC) John Modzalevsky summed up Yushchenko’s activities. “And in search of the most accurate epithet for his church activities, we will inevitably stop at the word “ineffective.” Everything the third president did to promote the idea of ​​a “one local church” always ended in failure.”

Meanwhile, attempts to give canonical status to the Kyiv Patriarchate and strengthen its position (all Yushchenko’s efforts amounted to this) provoked a new round of violence: cases of seizure of churches of the Moscow Patriarchate, pressure on parishioners and priests, and discrediting of the UOC in the media became more frequent. Ukraine has already gone through this during the tenure of Leonid Kravchuk, who stood at the origins of the creation of the UOC-KP.

The revenge of the “orange” forces in February 2014 could not but cause concern among people within the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The new regime received the most severe rebuff in those regions where the question of religious affiliation, by and large, was not faced by the population at all: in Crimea and Donbass, the dioceses of the UOC-KP were of a marginal nature (like other religious movements, except for the canonical Orthodox Church).

By the way, Alexander Turchinov, who started the ATO (an anti-terrorist operation in Kiev is called military action against the Donbass militia - approx. RuBaltic.Ru), was dubbed the “bloody shepherd” on the Internet, and opponents of the Maidan found it no coincidence that the duties of the president after the flight of the ex-head of state Viktor Yanukovych began to be performed by a man who gives sermons in a Baptist church. A certain symbolism is also visible during the fighting.

Alexander Turchinov / Source: politpuzzle.ru

The “arena” of the first bloody battles was Slavyansk, on the territory of the city council of which the famous Svyatogorsk Lavra is located - the spiritual center of the Orthodox flock not only in Donbass, but throughout Ukraine. And the first commander of the militia was the monarchist and ideologist of the White movement Igor Strelkov, whose worldview can be described as Orthodox-imperial. Let's not forget the fact that one of the first organizations that came out on the side of the Donbass republics was the Orthodox, as they say, to the core, the All-Great Don Army.

In short, in the spring of 2014, one of the driving forces of the conflict in southeast Ukraine was the religious factor. Therefore, the dignitaries of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate somehow found themselves drawn into this war. The front line cut not only the map of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, but also the map of the dioceses of the UOC-MP. All this could not but affect the position of the church.

Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine: one among strangers

In 2014, Patriarch Filaret supported the desire of the Kyiv authorities to resolve the Donbass issue by force and enlisted their support in the confrontation with the Moscow Patriarchate. No one is trying to hide the strong antagonism between the state and the UOC-MP (last year the Church even filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine).

Canonical Orthodoxy thus found itself in an unenviable position. But all these years, the Moscow Patriarchate, relying on the support of the broad masses, showed firmness.

Metropolitan Onufriy took a principled position regarding military actions in the South-East, as evidenced by his interview with the Union of Orthodox Journalists on July 14, 2015. Declaring support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, the head of the UOC nevertheless called the war civil and fratricidal.

The unprecedented pressure that was put on Onuphry was not successful: the Metropolitan did not take the side of the current government.

Metropolitan Onuphry / Photo: pravoslavie.ru

The attempts of official Kyiv to convince the UOC-MP to transfer four diocesan centers that today operate on the territory of the LDPR to the territory of Ukraine also came to nothing. When officials from the Ministry of Culture came up with a similar initiative in September 2015, the Church responded categorically: it decides where its dioceses should be located. This was stated by the Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the UOC Nikolai Danilevich. In addition, the archpriest did not miss the opportunity to “prick” the Ukrainian authorities painfully:

“In today’s situation, it is simply stupid for the Ukrainian state to take such steps, because the dioceses of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Donbass, where every day during divine services Kiev and Ukraine are mentioned in the title of Metropolitan Onufry, are in fact the only positive mention of Kyiv and Ukraine among the local residents who live there in conditions of both real and information war.

Losing this is strategically wrong. The Ukrainian state lost its political Crimea and part of Donbass. The UOC did not lose its ecclesiastical Crimea and ecclesiastical Donbass.”

What, in essence, did the Ukrainian Orthodox Church lose during the years of the war in Donbass? Some media outlets claim that it has lost a significant part of its supporters, although opinion polls prove the opposite. Let us also recall Filaret’s failed attempt to respond to the religious procession organized in July 2021 by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church: despite the support of the state and the central media, the patriarch of the UOC-KP brought many times fewer people into the streets.

“Over these years, we have not observed a noticeable increase in believers in the UOC-KP,” Metropolitan of Lugansk and Alchevsk Mitrofan noted in an interview with the newspaper Arguments and Facts. - And this despite powerful information propaganda, state support, etc. Our people are not decreasing, and theirs are not increasing. Our churches are full, new parishes are opening, the number of monks is increasing.”

Metropolitan of Lugansk and Alchevsk Mitrofan / Photo: Youtube

With the tacit consent of official Kyiv, the UOC-MP lost some of its churches, but the scale of the “redistribution” is by no means large. The hierarchs of the Kyiv Patriarchate and the politicians lobbying their interests failed to return the coveted Kiev Pechersk Lavra to state ownership. In addition, at the end of 2021, the court invalidated the decision of the parish meeting of the Sretensky Church dated July 10, 2015 to change religious affiliation, and then left the cassation appeal of representatives of the UOC-KP without consideration.

They tried to “reanimate” the process of confiscation of church property in Ukraine by adopting two scandalous bills with eloquent names: “On amendments to the law of Ukraine “On freedom of conscience and religious organizations (regarding changes in subordination by religious communities)”” and “On the special status of religious organizations governing whose centers are located in a state recognized by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as an aggressor state.” But they were never considered, since “the session hall did not have the required number of votes to approve them.”

Thus, the position of the disgraced Ukrainian Orthodox Church under pressure from the Kyiv authorities has not seriously deteriorated in recent years.

Dioceses of Donbass

As already mentioned, the administrative structure of the UOC-MP in Donbass has remained unchanged. On the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, including the territories of the self-proclaimed republics, there are four dioceses: Donetsk and Makeyevsk, Gorlovka and Slavyansk, Lugansk and Alchevsk, Severodonetsk and Starobelsk. The media note that the UOC-MP is the only church that has not moved its administrative centers to territory controlled by Kyiv. That is, the management of the affairs of the Church in the DPR is carried out from Gorlovka and Donetsk, but the church hierarchs remain subordinate to the Kyiv Metropolis.

The primates of both dioceses cross the line of demarcation: Metropolitan Hilarion (Shukalo) of Donetsk and Mariupol came to Odessa in October 2021, and Metropolitan Mitrofan of Gorlovka and Slavyansk recently celebrated a liturgy in one of the churches of Slavyansk.

Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol / Photo: donetsk.church.ua

In general, during the war years, the activities of the Church in Donbass did not fundamentally change. This is evidenced by a detailed report on the results of 2021, published on the website of the Gorlovka and Slavic diocese. New churches and prayer rooms are opening, Sunday schools are being built, and meetings of clergy are being held. The church actively works with children and youth: “The spiritual singing class in Gorlovka graduated its first students. Students who crossed the threshold of an educational institution six years ago received state-issued certificates of additional education received.”

The issue of restoring Orthodox churches that were damaged during the fighting remains an urgent issue. On the territory of the DPR during the war, about 70 churches were damaged, 10 were completely destroyed.

Obviously, volunteers and government officials are helping the dioceses restore church property. “We have plans to create a fund for the restoration of churches,” said the chairman of the People’s Council of the DPR in 2015. “Both the executive branch and charitable organizations will be involved in the work of this fund.”

Cooperation with local authorities

According to the legislation of the DPR, the republic is a secular state, from which religious associations are separated. No religion can be established as a state religion. The text of the ninth article of the Constitution, which contains these provisions, was deliberately distorted in 2014.

Information was disseminated on the Internet that Orthodoxy was declared the primary and dominant religion in the DPR, and the historical experience and role of the Russian Orthodox Church were recognized and respected “as the system-forming pillars of the Russian world.” It is difficult to say where this “stuffing” came from, but none of the published editions of the DPR Constitution contains anything like this.

Nevertheless, the leadership of the DPR openly sympathizes with the Orthodox Church; top officials of the state and field commanders often demonstrate their piety.

The emphasized respect for religion fits into the logic of the process of sacralization of the war, which was launched in 2014 on both sides of the front. Each side of the conflict proves that it is doing a godly deed. But if the Kiev Patriarchate hastened to rush into the arms of the new authorities (remember the words of Filaret about the need to “atone with blood for the sin of federalization”), then the situation with the UOC-MP is more complicated. It is known that the Donbass dioceses, represented by their primates, support the line of Metropolitan Onufry, and their statements sound very harsh. For example, here is what the head of the Donetsk and Mariupol diocese Hilarion said in May 2014:

“All sides of the current confrontation consider their actions to be correct, but for believers, the value guideline is one Truth - our Lord Jesus Christ, Who said that above all is the love of God for man, and of man for his neighbor. Therefore, the Church has no right to support and does not support anyone in this turmoil and fratricidal war. There will be no God’s blessing on those who violate the commandment “Thou shalt not kill!” by committing Cain’s sin.”

Metropolitan Mitrofan of Gorlovka and Slavia shares the same opinion: “When the war happened, we suddenly discovered an interesting phenomenon: on one side there are people who call themselves the Orthodox army, who have the Image Not Made by Hands on their flag, who are baptized, wear a cross. They are probably confessing and receiving communion.

Metropolitan of Gorlovka and Slavic Mitrofan / Photo: pravlife.org

On the other side stands “The Hundred of Jesus Christ,” that’s what it’s called. Also with a flag, also with the image of the Savior, on the muzzles it is also written “God is with us,” and other church paraphernalia is present. These people kill each other with pleasure, shoot from machine guns, from cannons.

“The Hundred of Jesus Christ” are against the Orthodox army, and the demon is laughing at it all. Of course, the Lord cannot rejoice at this, and this cannot in any way be connected with the fact that a person confesses and receives communion.”

On the other hand, numerous facts confirm that in 2014, individual clergy openly supported the militias, blessed them, blessed weapons, etc. The Ukrainian media did not ignore this. Accusations rained down both against the clergy of the Svyatogorsk Lavra, which was dubbed “a hotbed of separatism,” and against Donetsk Metropolitan Hilarion. The latter was suspected of adherence to the ideals of the Russian World and patronage of fighters of the unrecognized republics, but this is not confirmed by specific facts.

The Church's position regarding the priests who supported the militia remains unclear. For well-known reasons, representatives of the UOC-MP are reluctant to talk about the cooperation of the Donbass dioceses with the authorities of the republic. Meanwhile, the law “On Freedom of Religion and Religious Associations” adopted in June 2021 implies the exercise of real state control over the activities of the Church. For the Moscow Patriarchate, this topic remains acute and unpleasant.

Other religions

Little is known about the activities of other faiths in the DPR. The same law “On Freedom of Religion and Religious Associations” should have shed light on this issue, but neither the numbers nor the names of the registered associations have been published since then. Moreover, four months after the adoption of the law, DPR Justice Minister Elena Radomskaya stated:

“To date, not a single religious organization has registered. Conducting any rituals, cults, or sermons on the streets by organizations without state registration that consider themselves religious is unlawful.”

The last remark does not apply to the UOC-MP - its activities, based on the text of the document, are regulated in a separate manner. But for understanding the situation of other religious organizations in the DPR, information is very important. After the adoption of the law, their leaders were clearly in no hurry to go through the registration procedure, as the Minister of Justice openly stated. Why? Probably because official “registration” in the DPR could cast a shadow of cooperation with “terrorists” on them and undermine their position in Ukraine.

At the same time, the legal activity of some Ukrainian churches on the territory of the DPR (such as the UOC-KP) is impossible in principle. The Kiev Patriarchate expressed its reluctance to cooperate with the new government back in 2014, when it evacuated its administrative centers from the cities of the republic. If we talk about the UAOC, then the Church did not have a separate diocese in Donetsk at all. Before the war, Greek Catholics had the Donetsk Exarchate, which, apparently, also ceased to exist.

“We evacuated certain of our structures,” said the priest of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) Vasily Pantelyuk at the beginning of 2016. — Office, charitable structures. They are now in the city of Dnepropetrovsk and helping internally displaced persons.” However, according to the same Father Vasily, at that time four UGCC priests had permission to serve in Donetsk. Permits were issued by a certain “committee” and “security service” (probably meaning the DPR Ministry of State Security).

Priest Vasily Pantelyuk / Photo: pravlife.org

Other faiths do not have any special prospects for development in the DPR. Orthodoxy has the sympathies of both the civilian population, the political leadership, and the military. In addition, the head of the republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, stated back in 2015 that he recognizes only four confessions (Orthodoxy, Islam, Roman Catholicism, Judaism) and intends to toughly fight sectarianism.

The position of other religious organizations is eloquently evidenced by the words of the Archbishop of Gorlovka and Slavic Mitrofan: “... I then asked him: okay, then explain to me why on the territory of the Gorlovka diocese there are no captured churches of the Kiev Patriarchate, no Greek Catholic churches taken away?

On the contrary, at the request of our Synodal Department for External Church Relations, we regularly ask for the release of a Greek Catholic priest or Seventh-day Adventist pastor or petition for the building that was taken from them to be returned so that they can gather and pray there. When they even offered us the opportunity to seize a building by force, we consciously refused.”

Finally

The position of the UOC-MP was briefly and clearly described by Metropolitan Mitrofan of Lugansk and Alchevsk:

“Today our Church lives and operates in three socio-political contexts: in the context of the Ukrainian state, in the context of Crimea and in the context of Donbass, which is burning in the flames of war. There is no longer a single confession in Ukraine that would be fully present in these three realities. And this is precisely what explains our position on the main issues of the socio-political existence of Ukraine.”

Having decided to act in the context of Donbass, the leadership of the UOC is forced to accept its realities, cooperate with local authorities and put up with the fact that some priests openly support one of the parties to the conflict.

Meanwhile, detractors of the church stubbornly do not notice the important fact that in the territories not controlled by Ukraine, the UOC is perhaps the only legal and influential organization governed from Kyiv. For Ukrainian politicians (if they are seriously thinking about restoring the territorial integrity of the country) this is a definite plus.

Theoretically, it is the Orthodox faith that can become the foundation for the future reconciliation of Ukrainians. The Orthodox Church has already demonstrated its ability to play the role of a “third force” in the conflict between the LDPR and Ukraine during the organization of a large-scale prisoner exchange in December 2021. Obviously, this is precisely what the competitors and ill-wishers of the UOC fear, who are fomenting religious hysteria.

Current status[ | ]

Cathedral city - Donetsk, cathedral - Transfiguration Cathedral.

In the Donetsk-Mariupol diocese for 2021 there were: 241 parishes, 259 clergy (231 priests, 28 deacons), 4 monasteries[4].

The diocese includes 15 dean districts: Amvrosievsky, Velikonovoselkovsky, Volnovakha, Dokuchaevsky, Donetsk, Makeevsky, Mariupol, Maryinsky, Novoazovsky, Selidovsky, Snezhnyansky, Telmanovsky, Torezsky, Khartsyzsky, Yasinovatsky.

In the name of the Donetsk Republic. Donbass begins a church war

On the territory of the self-proclaimed “DPR”, in the coming days, preparations are being made for the liquidation of all structures of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), created from parishes and dioceses, including the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP) . After March 1, the priests will be deported to territory controlled by the Ukrainian government, and all property of the diocese will be confiscated.

After receiving the Tomos, all parishes of the Kyiv Patriarchate transferred to the new local church of Ukraine, and as of March 1, on the territory of the so-called “DPR” there are approximately a quarter of the parishes of this church in the Donetsk region - 36 churches and premises, the diocesan House of Mercy in Telmanovo and the diocesan administration building in Donetsk.

The destruction of the new local Orthodox Church of Ukraine is planned only in the “DPR”; in the self-proclaimed “LPR” such a step has not even been planned. The head of the OCU, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine Epifaniy has already made an appeal to the UN, the OSCE, the guarantor countries of the Minsk Process, the European Union and everyone who can “influence those on whom the adoption of final decisions depends,” with a request “not allow a catastrophic development of events.”

Radio Liberty has already written that in the “DPR”, back in May last year, amendments to the law “On freedom of religion and religious associations” were published, which secured a special role in the “DPR” for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). According to the law, the Donetsk and Gorlovka dioceses of this church received a simplified re-registration procedure. All other religious organizations had to undergo a forced re-registration procedure as “DPR” churches by March 1, 2021.

“Such a requirement cannot be fulfilled, since the structure that issued such a “law” is not recognized by anyone,” says Metropolitan Epifaniy’s appeal.

Over the past year, mainly Protestant churches have been banned on the territory of the self-proclaimed republics: Jehovah's Witnesses, the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists, and the New Life Church. The houses of worship and property of these churches were confiscated, some of the premises were transferred for use by the military, and in Makeyevka the former house of worship was turned into a registry office. In Donetsk, in the spring of 2021, a search took place in one of the two mosques operating at that time, and it was closed, followed by the Church of the Holy Spirit of the UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate, which was sealed and closed.

Archbishop of Donetsk and Mariupol Sergius (Gorobtsov)

Radio Liberty talked about the current situation with Archbishop Sergius (Gorobtsov) , representing the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the region.

“It all started several years ago, there is such a commissioner for religious affairs, Gavrish Sergei Sergeevich, and he said that our priests need to undergo re-registration according to the laws of the DPR,” says Bishop Sergius. He was the bishop of the Communist Party of Donetsk and Mariupol, and became the ruling archimandrite of the Donetsk and Mariupol OCU. – What does it mean for us to undergo re-registration? This actually means recognizing the republic as a state and thereby opening sanctions against oneself in Ukraine! Our senior church leadership would never agree to this. We have our own position: we were registered according to the laws of Ukraine and according to the laws of Ukraine we serve there. At the same time, I would like to note that there were no provocations, no propaganda on the part of our priests, they had nothing to do with politics. The priests were engaged exclusively in missionary, preaching activities and every day in works of mercy - they provided assistance to displaced people, refugees, and those people who suffered as a result of the war, whose apartments and houses were blown up, and relatives were killed. Priests were both confessors and social workers at the same time.

The authorities of the “DPR” did not like this, and they constantly frightened us with the fact that in the near future a law on religious activity would be issued, which would clearly state the position in relation to the then churches of the Kiev Patriarchate, and, of course, churches of Protestant churches, mosques spiritual administrations of Muslims, but not for the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate.

– What do you expect in the coming days?

Apparently, in order not to seem unfounded, they already captured our church in Donetsk last year

– We have already received information that on March 1, if the DPR plan is abandoned, “we will deport your priests, and all property, starting from land plots, churches, diocesan administration, a house of mercy, icons, utensils and everything else, will be confiscated to the fund republics." Apparently, in order not to seem unfounded and frivolous, last year they already seized our church in Donetsk, in the village of Rudchenkovo, and sealed it. There was a beautiful temple of the Holy Spirit, the priest, his father Ivan, was persecuted; with my blessing, in order to save his life, he was forced to leave that territory, but people gathered themselves and prayed incessantly. And one Sunday they came and saw that the temple was sealed by the “state property fund of the Donetsk People’s Republic” - well, that’s all. We had a second church, a temporary building, on Chulkovka in Donetsk, and it was also taken away. Well, remember, at the end of 2014 – beginning of 2015, our church in Telmanovo was shelled several times and eventually blown up. To this we must add the constant persecution, insults and intimidation of all our priests...

We endured severe trials, but now we are losing everything there

In many of our churches, they turned off the power and water, and cut off communications, citing the fact that “officially your religious organization does not exist on the territory of the DPR, it is not registered.” Therefore, the priests used backup options, served by candlelight in the evenings, converted the heating system from gas to solid fuel boilers in order to somehow warm the churches in the winter, somehow coped, humbled themselves, and endured. We have endured severe trials, but now we are losing everything.

– Are there many priests left in the uncontrolled territory of the Donetsk region?

“Now, after all the persecutions and deaths, there are three priests, one deacon and several nuns left. Everyone else was expelled, and all conditions were created for the priests and their families to leave that territory. One of our fathers died before Christmas and was buried immediately after Christmas. He had diabetes acquired during the war - you understand, constant threats, anxiety. And then he was informed that he was serving his last Christmas in his church in Telmanovo. He was nervous, worried about everyone and everything... Father Vladimir, still a young man, he was 41 years old, graduated from a seminary, a theological academy, and before that, the history department of a university. His sugar rose, he was taken by ambulance to the Telmanovsky district hospital, and there were no normal doctors left there. His blood sugar was sharply lowered, he fell into a coma and died...

In Ukraine, people didn’t go to our churches as much as they do now

My priests now work there almost 24 hours a day, they manage to serve in 80% of these 36 churches, every single day - in districts, in cities, tonight in some village there is an evening liturgy, tomorrow morning in another there is a morning liturgy, akathists , prayer services, memorial services and so on. Yes, it’s hard, it’s difficult, but, believe me, on holidays, on Christmas, on Epiphany, there were so many parishioners in churches that many people had the impression: under Ukraine, so many people didn’t go to our churches.

- I know that in Telmanovo you maintain a House of Mercy for the elderly...

“We’ve been supporting and helping since 1999, for 20 years now.” Now there are about 45 people there. There is a different composition there, there are some elderly people who come only for the winter period, there are some who come only to eat. These are either disabled people, or old people whose children were abandoned or left because of the war... It is clear that we will not leave them, we will protect them, we will somehow take them out, we do not abandon our own...

Priests help those in need

But can you imagine what is going on in the soul and heart of our clergy, what is going on inside me!? I have been building and restoring these churches since 1992! We attracted philanthropists, helped people, ran Sunday church schools, and organized wonderful pilgrimage trips. All this during the difficult post-Soviet period, there were persecutions against us, pressure from the Yanukovych government. And in these conditions, in the role of “outcasts,” we still moved forward, restored beautiful ancient cathedrals in the villages, which in Soviet times, at best, were, if not destroyed, then turned into warehouses for storing fertilizers or vegetables...

The authorities of the “DPR” force us to go into the catacombs and secretly perform divine services

We have always tried to be useful to society, and now to lose everything is a disaster. Today dozens of parishioners from the other side called me, and people are crying. I tell them: “Pray at home, read the Bible, the Psalter, if you come here for pensions, we will be happy to receive you in our churches, give you communion, and help you. Well, such a difficult time has come.” Now, in fact, the authorities of the “DPR” force us to go into the catacombs and secretly perform divine services.

– Telmanovsky district is Ukrainian, where the majority of parishes were owned by the Kyiv Patriarchate even before the war?

– Yes, it was so: in this area before the war there were three churches of the Moscow Patriarchate and two dozen of the Kyiv one. In the Telmanovsky, Novoazovsky, Starobeshevsky districts there are a lot of villages where, after World War II, during Operation Vistula, Ukrainians were resettled from the lands of eastern Poland. Now this people is left without shepherds, and this is a big problem. I am sure that God will not leave us, all sorts of cases have happened in life. I’m just afraid that these “comrades” will repeat the experience of the 1930s and destroy churches. Or they have this mania: they take good buildings and give them to their military as barracks. Or they simply rob and take away valuables. This is what I am most afraid of: they will destroy everything, take away people’s hope, and it will be very sad.

– What has changed for you with the advent of the OCU?

Sooner or later the church will unite, whether we want it or not, there will be a single local Orthodox Church in Ukraine

– Parishioners began to come to us in large numbers, that is, churches in the Donetsk region from MP are not moving to us, but the flow of parishioners is colossal. I just look - at every service in the church there are five to ten more people, always new faces. Well, if most of the believers come over to us, then who will the Moscow priests serve? Sooner or later the church will unite, whether we want it or not, there will be a single local Orthodox church in Ukraine. But a certain number of clergy and believers simply will not go to the Ukrainian church, because they consider themselves Russians and the ideology of the “Russian World” is close to them. Well, God bless them - there are enough churches for everyone.

As the head of the diocese, I did not provoke a single situation regarding the seizure of the temple of the Moscow Patriarchate, I did not even think of such a thing! On the contrary, I always explain to parishioners that a person needs to mature spiritually and morally, and the same priest of the Moscow Patriarchate needs to understand that unity is better than being on opposite sides of the barricades. At all press conferences, public sermons, meetings with journalists, I never tire of repeating all this. We need a spiritual system of peacemaking; we must unite on the foundation of the Holy Gospel, which says: “In love, harmony, piety and long-suffering!” Now the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Donetsk region has eight times more churches than us, we have approximately 130 parishes registered, they have more than six hundred plus the Lavra.

– How long have you been in Donetsk?

– I haven’t had access to the other side since 2014, I’ve been on the arrest list there since then, “greetings” are still being sent from both Telmanov and Donetsk. Some man, I don’t know him, he knows about me well, recently in the presence of my parishioners in Telmanovo he showed me on which poplar he would hang me on the Ukrainian flag. For what, you ask? Because we were law-abiding citizens, because we helped people, because we loved Ukraine with all our hearts and treated all other countries with love? But I forgive them all, and I am sure that sooner or later each person will be responsible for their sins and their mistakes and, God grant, that during their lifetime everyone will find within themselves a conscience and the strength to become purer, kinder and begin to act like a Christian... And Now our only hope is that the Lord will protect us, and that the world community will be able to somehow influence the authorities of this republic,” Archbishop Sergius of Donetsk and Mariupol said in an interview with Radio Liberty .

Bishops[ | ]

• Dimitry (Magan) (January - end of 1943)
• Nikon (Petin) (June 26, 1944 - April 16, 1956) since 1952, Archbishop of Odessa
• Ioannikiy (Kobzev) (February 19, 1990 - September 6, 1991)
• Alipy (Pogrebnyak) (October 6, 1991 - January 23, 1992)
• Leonty (Gudimov) (January 23, 1992 - March 16, 1992)
• Ioannikiy (Kobzev)
  (March 16 - May 28, 1992) v/u
• Alipy (Pogrebnyak) (May 28 - December 7, 1992)
• Ioannikiy (Kobzev)
  (December 7 - 22, 1992) v/u
• Ippolit (Khilko) (December 22, 1992 - May 3, 1996)
• Alipiy (Pogrebnyak)
  (May 3 - September 12, 1996) v/u
• Hilarion (Shukalo) (from September 12, 1996)

Notes[ | ]

1. DEMITRY (undefined)
   . Archived from the original on December 2, 2012.
2. Theodosius (Protsyuk), Metropolitan, Separate movement in the Orthodox Church in Ukraine: (1917-1943), M., 2004, 473, 562
3. The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church performed the rite of minor consecration of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Donetsk Patriarchia.ru, July 29, 2009
4. Donetsk diocese
5. Journals of the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church dated 24 June 2007, JOURNAL No. 13 (unspecified)
   (inaccessible link). Archived October 20, 2011.

Why do Donbass residents go to church?

On the recent Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, popularly called the “Apple Savior,” the main church of the Donetsk diocese, the Transfiguration Cathedral, was filled with parishioners, and the courtyard was very crowded. It must be said that the filled churches of the capital and other settlements of the DPR are a characteristic feature of the Donbass era.

Of course, their absolute fullness is more typical on the days of major temple holidays, but even on weekdays the stream of believers does not dry up. And this is despite the preventive measures introduced: it is recommended that all parishioners come to churches wearing masks, maintain social distance, carry out all kinds of disinfection, ventilate the premises, and so on.

As the local priest of the church, which is located on the very outskirts of the northern shelled part of Donetsk, said, in his parish, even in connection with the coronavirus infection, “people only began to attend church a little less.”

“In general, in my church the believers treat both the war and the pandemic quite calmly, trusting in the will of God. They understand that not a single hair can fall from a person’s head, everything happens according to the will of the Lord, and by His will we can become infected with any virus, or we may not become infected with anything at all. As St. Nicholas of Serbia said, there are no random bullets, every bullet flies exactly to the target,” he concluded.

What brings those who live in the epicenter of the sluggish hybrid Donbass war to the temple? Let's try to figure it out.

Donbass is a land of many Orthodox shrines

“Before the revolution, the Donetsk land was decorated with many Orthodox churches,” said an old resident of the city, local historian Nikolai Samoilov. “Since it was inhabited by people from the Kursk, Smolensk, and Belgorod provinces, Orthodox people, the spiritual core in Donbass has always been and is Orthodoxy. And the first St. Nicholas Church in our region was built on the territory of the present Leninsky district (the former landowner village of Grigoryevka) at the beginning of the 19th century. It was built by Russian people, settlers. In 1842, thanks to the patronage of our local landowner Mandrykin, the first cathedral, St. Alexander Nevsky Church, was erected in the village of Avdotino. I would like to note that the architecture of this temple is unusual; in Russia there is only one temple built in a similar style. By the way, now the St. Alexander Nevsky Church is being restored by the descendants of Mandrykin, who live in Donetsk,” he added.

Orthodox churches in Donbass grew along with the increase in the population of the region. In the same St. Alexander Nevsky Church in 1858, the community consisted of 1,687 parishioners, and in 1896 - 2,321 people. In a short period, the St. Nicholas Cathedral (Larinka village) was also erected. Holy Dormition Church (Ruchenkovo ​​village), St. Nicholas Church (Shakhtostroitel village, Kalininsky district). Holy Dormition Church (Budennovka village, Proletarsky district). Holy Ascension Church (Petrovka village, Petrovsky district). These churches survived the turbulent years of revolution, and by 1925, 640 Orthodox parishes were already registered in Donbass.

Unfortunately, Donbass had to endure several severe waves of atheistic repression, when churches were destroyed, priests were repressed, plunging the region into the chaos of unbelief. According to a local resident born in 1938, at that time in Stalino (Donetsk) it was impossible to find a priest to baptize a child. “It was such a time. Most of the priests were exiled, and those who remained hid. My mother told me that they were looking for a priest for almost a month to baptize me. Then he came alone in civilian clothes, late at night, baptized me, and the next day my parents had to go to him and get the certificate. But they found out that the next day he was already arrested,” the woman recalled.

Joseph Stalin, who has a special attitude in Donbass, saved the region from turning into a spiritual desert. In 1939, his well-known instruction began to be implemented regarding the recognition of the previous practice of arresting servants of the Russian Orthodox Church by the NKVD as inappropriate. Lunin’s order of May 1, 1919 “On the fight against priests and religion,” concerning ministers of the Russian Orthodox Church and its parishioners, was also cancelled. And the church in Donbass really began to recover. By 1948, in the city of Stalino (later Donetsk) alone, 235 parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church and 13 religious Orthodox communities were registered.

But with the coming to power of Khrushchev and the intensification of atheistic propaganda, spiritual life in Donbass again began to fade and go underground. That is, the Orthodox tradition did not disappear; people were still baptized and went to churches, but secretly. According to a local resident who was a deacon of an Orthodox church during the years of religious repression, Donbass is becoming a stronghold of Orthodoxy in the east of the Ukrainian SSR. “Donbass has its own specifics,” this person says, “in godless times, people from all regions of the Soviet Union came here to work in the mines, since the work of a miner was highly valued at that time. This work is dangerous, without faith it is difficult to go underground, and many were baptized secretly and went to churches. Many frontline soldiers also baptized their children because war changes the people who survive. This is felt on a metaphysical level. I remember my uncle, who returned from the war and the first thing he did was baptize his two sons. He assumed that it should be this way because his grandfather and great-grandfather did it,” the man added.

Sprouts of spiritual revival during the Donbass war

“I don’t go to church often. When the opportunity presents itself,” says Svetlana Yutva, a teacher at one of the Donetsk schools and a parishioner of the Transfiguration Cathedral. I will stand in front of the images, remember those who have passed on, and light candles for the health of those who are still alive. And it becomes so easy in the soul. And I see that many people come too... and quite a few young people, light candles. I pray not for myself, for children, weak loved ones, for the wounded. For this damned war to end, which has already claimed so many lives,” the woman says, sighing, but her eyes glow with hope. During war, when you strive to survive and all your senses are heightened, hope most often brings people to the temple. And also the need for protection, and what makes us human, that breath of God, which is called conscience.

As Victor S., a parishioner of the small village Holy Dormition Church on Ruchenkovo, told me, “Glory to God for everything!” During shelling, I try to turn more often to the statement of St. Macarius the Great, who said the following words: “Believe me, if you knew the one who is with you, you would not be afraid of anything in the world.” And I remembered the Makeevka checkpoint, known as “4/13,” where my friends stood and a small icon of Christ attached to a beam with the flag of Novorossiya.

And some people living in the Republic come to church for the joy they find not only in common prayer, but also in joint work. In the Budennovsky district of Donetsk, a beautiful temple in honor of the Great Martyr Panteleimon the Healer rises above the village of Alekseevka. Much of the improvement of the temple and the temple area is done by the hands of the parishioners themselves. In his recent sermon on the day of Panteleimon the Healer, the dean of the Trinity District of Donetsk, Archpriest Father Alexey, drew attention to this simple unifying aspect. “I experienced it myself: after the service I change into work clothes and, together with the parishioners, begin to carry out work on improving the temple and the temple area, planting trees, watering flowers, painting the fence, and cleaning the temple. And even in this matter, the matter of labor, you and I become united. We forget that in ancient times and now in the Church everyone worked together. They didn’t look at ranks and expensive clothes, they didn’t look at social differences. Our task is to do a common cause, but also with our own hands. Handicraft and prayer are two pillars that are called to be united.”

And when a person finds the time and energy to do something in the temple, without expecting anything for it, he, in the literal sense of the word, works for the Kingdom of Heaven, because he finds consolation, beauty, goodness, and love in this. This is how one of the parishioners explained it to me. Therefore, despite all the hardships of wartime, churches are being restored in Donbass. Is it possible, in this case, to talk about the crisis of Orthodoxy, which many media outlets write about?

Construction of the temple as a symbol of new life

During the years of the Donbass war, the Ukrainian Armed Forces damaged 72 Orthodox churches and destroyed 10. But many of them have already been restored. Moreover, despite the fact that the shelling continues, new churches are being built. For there are people who need this and who take part in this process that is beneficial for the soul, helping them forget about everyday affairs and come into contact with the saving and spiritual. This unites people, cleanses their souls, teaches them to love God and their neighbors.

Back in 2015, this was noted by the founder of the DPR, Donetsk politician Andrei Purgin. He told the representatives of the delegation from Kronstadt, who arrived on a mission to present an iconostasis to one of the burned churches of the Republic, about the return of a sense of spirituality to the Donetsk land.

“Since ancient times, the church has been, is and will be an integral part of our life. Your visit gives us hope that a spiritual revival will begin: churches destroyed by the war will begin to be restored, and the feeling of that spirituality that we must now return to our lands will return,” Purgin said then.

Of course, this is still a small trickle, the restoration of churches is proceeding at a slow pace, but it already speaks volumes. After all, if construction projects stop, it is only for a while, and then they resume again, like persistent Donbass plants that can make their way through asphalt. More than a dozen churches are currently being built in Donetsk alone. Among the new churches, the Alekseevsky Church should be noted near the Vishnevsky Hospital, at the intersection of Panfilov Avenue and Rosa Luxemburg Street. Before this, next to the temple under construction there was a trailer that housed a chapel of the same name. The temple was named in honor of the heir to the Russian throne, Tsarevich Alexei, who was shot a hundred years ago along with other members of the royal family.

Another new temple is being built on Bosse, on Pukhova Street. Two years ago, a trailer was installed there, which temporarily housed the chapel of the Apostle John the Theologian. At the moment, work is continuing there to prepare the foundation of the temple, and there is still a lot of work ahead.

In the Donetsk Park of Forged Figures, a creative group of like-minded members of the Donbass Blacksmiths Guild built the most unusual chapel in the city. The construction project arose in 2021 as the creative theme of the 20th festival of blacksmithing. Therefore, initially they wanted to name the chapel in honor of the patron saints of the blacksmiths Cosmas and Damian, but at the last moment they renamed it “Softening Evil Hearts” - this is the name of the most noticeable icon installed in it. Now every Wednesday at 16:00 there are prayer services in the chapel, for which parishioners gather.

In the Tekstilshchik microdistrict, next to the small log church of the Holy Vvedenskaya, which was opened several years ago and can hardly accommodate everyone who wants to pray, a temple is being built in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”.

Slowly but surely, the construction or renovation of several more churches in different areas of Donetsk is underway.

Thus, they finished the facade of the Church of the Holy New Martyrs, located on Partizansky Avenue, not far from the Shcheglovsky cemetery. In its lower aisle, where services are held, new icons were installed in the iconostasis. Repair and construction work continues in the destroyed church of the Iversky Monastery, located on the other side of the airport. An iconostasis was installed in the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky in the village of Avdotyino.

Interior finishing work is being completed in the church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “Vsetsaritsa,” which was built near the Donetsk Oncology Center. Its construction began in the summer of 2012. And they built not only in peacetime, but also throughout the years of war.

Among those who work on the restoration of churches, there are many young people. One of them is Alexander, a correspondent for Novorossiya news agency, who has been serving in the Donetsk Church of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called as an altar boy for about a year. “We have a small parish, now there are about 50 people, and many parishioners know each other personally. Therefore, when the question arose about helping to improve the temple (repairs had not been done for 7-8 years), many people responded. Sponsors helped buy the paint, and we erected the scaffolding ourselves,” says Alexander.

In his opinion, the majority of those who go to churches were raised in the Orthodox tradition, the faith was instilled in their families. “Many grandmothers went to churches. They raised their grandchildren correctly, passing on to them the correct meaning (of life). Others came to the temple after some life problems or failures. Some were brought to the temple by relatives who had gone before…” the young man reflects. It is gratifying that an increasing number of young people understand that without spiritual growth it is actually difficult to achieve social and economic development.

Temples are being built not only in Donetsk, but also in other settlements of the Republic. For example, in the village of Rassypnoye, Shakhtarsky District, work on the restoration of the temple is also being completed. On August 5, a ceremonial installation of the dome took place there, which was destroyed as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The shell destroyed the roof and exploded in the church, the property of which, however, was not too damaged, which was regarded by parishioners as a miracle. One of the fragments was later found in the icon at the feet of the Pochaev Mother of God, as if a symbol of the humility of a deadly weapon before the power of Spirituality and Faith. The new dome was provided by the Russian Volgodonsk. According to the rector of the temple, Archpriest Father Oleg, now, erected with charitable donations in 1997, the temple has again regained its former appearance.

Construction work is also underway to restore the Annunciation Cathedral, one of the most beautiful churches in Gorlovka, almost completely destroyed in 2014 as a result of shelling from the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Craftsmen from the Arkhangelsk region are taking part in the restoration work, using a rather rare material in construction - Arkhangelsk pine. The uniqueness of this temple is that it was built without a single nail.

A spiritual vacuum is worse than war

Of course, all the heroes of this story are part of the still small circle of active church-going people of different ages in the DPR, who realized that in times of instability only the church remains stable, that its restoration is also a concern for people, and an opportunity to change life in the Republic to to the best.

According to a parishioner of one of the churches, a former bibliographer of the Donetsk central library Krupskaya, “people go to church because they receive comfort there. We all know the bitter experience received from the Soviet government: in order to put communist ideas into people’s heads, a persecution of Orthodoxy was announced... But the worst thing happened much later - after the collapse of the USSR, when the ideas of communism, instilled in people’s heads for seven decades, collapsed, and the soul a person, turned away from faith, again turned out to be empty. Some fell into drunkenness, and others into sects, again becoming an ardent supporter, but of religious false teachings. Now in Donetsk and its environs, restoration of destroyed churches and construction of new ones is being actively carried out, but it is easy to rebuild material things, but few people know how to revive churches in the souls of people,” the woman concluded. But if there are people like our heroes, there is still hope for the spiritual renewal of life in the Republic, which is in dire need of it. After all, how did Patriarch Alexy II answer the question of why build churches when there are many people around who need help? To cleanse thousands of hearts later in the church sacraments performed in them. Because the more churches there are in our country, the fewer hospitals and shelters there are.

And now more and more people in the DPR understand this. In any case, more and more unchurched people began to attend church. This phenomenon did not exist in Ukraine. Of course, this is partly due to the desire to gain greater security during the war, but to a greater extent, it is due to the internal core of non-covetousness characteristic of the residents of Donbass.

Donetsk philosopher Andrei Konovalov believes that it was in the Donbass that there was very little “soil” for the formation of the so-called consumer, as happened in Ukraine and Belarus. “There they relied on the formation of a consumer, the adaptation of this consumer to the market. But... To be a person, you need to be whole, and a consumer is a function, what is called a one-dimensional person who is easy to manage. There is an expression: “To defeat your enemy, raise his children.” All this led to the fact that Maidans became possible in the post-Soviet space. I also want to note that those who organize these Maidans take into account many factors. We know that in 2004 in Kyiv they did not allow blood to be shed during the confrontation for one simple reason - there were too many people, including front-line soldiers, who had not yet lost their human qualities. But in 2014 this was no longer the case, because the generation was renewed, many front-line soldiers left for another world. Therefore, in both Belarus and Ukraine, this one-dimensional public remains, which, when asked what you want, except for lace pantaloons, cannot say anything. They have lost their integrity, but in the Donbass it is still preserved. At one time, Tymoshenko cynically, but very accurately defined her electorate as “biomass.” But she spoke differently about the residents of Donbass. It is impossible to change us; we must be fenced with barbed wire and dropped a nuclear bomb. Those. she understood perfectly well that Donbass, unlike other territories, due to its history, due to the dominant professions of miners and metallurgists, was different. It has not yet received that merchant color that largely manifested itself in Kharkov and Odessa in 2014. And this ensured that Donbass not only rebelled, but also won, no matter what anyone said, despite our difficulties. Our Orthodox bonds played a huge role in this. Our enemies understand this, and they will attack Orthodoxy. But I know that it is Orthodoxy that is the cornerstone, the foundation that makes us virtually invulnerable. You just need to understand that the processes of changing the system are not processes of one day. Everything takes time."

We will end on this optimistic note.

Natalya Zalevskaya

Literature[ | ]

• E. A. Ageeva, prot.
  Georgy Gulyaev. Donetsk and Mariupol diocese // Orthodox Encyclopedia. - M.: Tserkovno-nauchny, 2007. - T. XV: “Dimitri - Additions to the “Historical Acts”. — P. 657-661. — 752 p. — 39,000 copies. — ISBN 978-5-89572-026-4.
• Rebrova M.I., Petrushko V.I.
  On the issue of confiscation of churches in the Stalin region in 1943-1947. // Theology: history, problems, prospects. Materials of the V All-Russian Theological Student Scientific and Practical Conference (Lipetsk, May 5-6, 2021). Lipetsk, 2021. - pp. 52-56.

Orthodox Donbass responded to the cynical statements of the excommunicated schismatic Denisenko

Donbass, November 12, 2021

The clergy and Orthodox believers of Donbass reacted to the insanely cynical statements of the false patriarch Denisenko, which he recently made from the pulpit of one of the churches. The response to his statements was published on the websites of the Donetsk and Gorlovka dioceses.

***

Response to the statement of the head of the so-called “Kyiv Patriarchate” Filaret (M.A. Denisenko)

Over the past few weeks, the public has been excited by the words spoken from the church pulpit by Ukrainian citizen M.A. Denisenko (a man who calls himself “Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus'-Ukraine Filaret”) in one of his “sermons”. The video depicting the mentioned event was published on November 4, 2021 on the YouTube video hosting site.

The words spoken by “patriarch” Denisenko outraged not only us, the residents of Donbass, but also sensible people from different regions of Ukraine and other countries. The so-called “patriarch” said that the population of Donbass must atone with suffering and blood for “the sin of voting in a referendum for federalization.” These terrible and inhumane words shocked and deeply wounded the hearts of many people.

Unfortunately, in 2014, a fratricidal war began on the territory of Donbass. According to the UN, from mid-April 2014 to July 31, 2021, 9,553 people were killed and 22,137 people were injured. Behind these numbers are human destinies. M.A. Denisenko (Filaret) talks about the blood of a ten-month-old girl, Kira, who was torn apart by a shell along with her mother while they were walking in a city park in Gorlovka; about the suffering of a mother whose three small children were killed during shelling; about the fate of nine-year-old Vanya Voronov, whose shell deprived him of his sight, legs, arms and younger brother. The question arises: what “god” does he (Filaret) serve? Baal, to whom they offered human sacrifices, including children, in Carthage?

People who serve the True God, who said that one of His names is Love, cannot call for violence and bloodshed. The shells do not know who to fly at - real criminals or defenseless old people, women and children. The application of the principle of collective responsibility is another historical barbarity, which throws those who apply such a principle far back in development.

The role of the true Church in civil and military conflicts at all times has been exclusively peacemaking. The task of Christians today is to pray for an end to the war and, through their words and deeds, to contribute to the speedy return of the situation in Donbass to a civilized course, when people of different views will have the opportunity to peacefully agree on how to live next to each other.

The deep disunity of civil society, the quarrels, and disagreements that we see today are the most direct consequence of the terrible sin of church schism, which was once headed by the false patriarch Filaret (Denisenko). Behind the screen of “patriotism” lie lies and destructive activities that have been dividing the Ukrainian people for the third decade in a row.

The Donetsk and Gorlovka dioceses are an integral part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the True and Unity Church of the Ukrainian people, which preaches the Risen Christ to those near and far - the Source of Love and Joy in people. Throughout its life and activities, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church cultivates in its flock love for God, for neighbors, for the Motherland, for its people.

Today we offer our prayers that the Lord will generously bestow peace on our long-suffering land; we pray for all those who work in the responsible field of peacemaking for the well-being of the Church of Christ and all of us!

Episcopate, clergy, monastics of the Orthodox Donbass.