The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO), comprising various Christian Churches, Jewish and Muslim communities of Ukraine, strongly condemns the terrorist attack carried out by the Russian Federation on July 8, 2024, targeting Ukrainian cities, civilian infrastructure, children's hospitals, a maternity hospital, and civilians.  

The deliberate missile strikes of racist Russia on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital, maternity hospital, and other hospitals constitute a war crime and an act of extreme cruelty and disregard for human life and God. For general public information: the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv is a national analog of the world-famous Vatican Children's Hospital Bambino Gesù in Rome (Italy). 

The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations is appealing to all governments around the world that truly value human life, especially the lives of children, and genuinely respect the norms of international law, not just in words but in actions:

- to condemn the actions of the Russian Federation against Ukraine by recognizing Russia as a terrorist state;

- to terminate economic relations with the Russian Federation to avoid complicity in Russia's war crimes against Ukraine and genocide of the Ukrainian people;

- to take all necessary measures to stop Russia's aggression against Ukraine and restore international law;

- to provide Ukraine with the necessary means to protect lives, including additional air defense equipment, aircraft, electronic warfare equipment, and everything essential for the defense and restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

The UCCRO once again urges the World Council of Churches, the Conference of European Churches, and other international interdenominational organizations to consider bringing to moral and other responsibility the Russian Orthodox Church, which strongly supports the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine, incites interethnic and interconfessional hostility and, through the preaching of the Russian World ideology, encourages the genocide of the Ukrainian people. 

We share the suffering and pain with the families who have lost their loved ones and who are suffering as a result of terrorist acts and war crimes committed by the terrorist state of Russia. We express our gratitude to the Ukrainian Defense Forces and ask God to bless their service with success and victory. 

We pray for the Ukrainian people and every person, asking the Almighty to give them the strength to be strong in spirit and defeat evil! (Quelle: www.vrciro.ua, 8. Juli 2024)