The Orthodox Public Affairs Committee has condemned “the brutal and disgraceful attack” carried out by Russia on Ukraine's city of Sumy on Palm Sunday.
The committee said what should have been a day of peace, prayer, and spiritual reflection at the start of Holy Week became a day of terror.
In a statement shared with DAILY POST, OPAC expressed regret that civilians, many of them Orthodox Christians, were killed as they gathered to worship.
“This was not only an act of war; it was an act of desecration,” according to the global Orthodox Christian Church's public advocacy group.
OPAC said on the very day Christ was welcomed into Jerusalem with palms and cries of Hosanna, Russia “rained down death on its own spiritual kin.”
The organization described the missile strike, which claimed more than 30 lives and injured over 100 people, as “a sin against both God and humanity.”
“This is not simply a military operation, it is a moral collapse. It is fratricide,” OPAC said of the violence “from a regime that cloaks itself in the language of Christian faith.”
President Vladimir Putin, it noted, “continues to present himself as a defender of traditional values, while ordering the deaths of innocent men, women, and children.”
OPAC urged political leaders to “speak up,” and advised all people of faith and conscience, Orthodox or otherwise, to stand against the unending violence.
“Thoughts and prayers for the innocent victims of this brutal war must be met with action,” the group added, recalling the boast that the war “could be over in 24 hours.”
“That promise has long expired. Time is up. The world cannot afford another day of delay while the innocent continue to suffer,” the statement added.
Similarly, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he was deeply alarmed and shocked by the Russian strike on an important day for Christians.
The attack, according to spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, continues a devastating pattern of similar assaults on Ukrainian cities and towns, resulting in civilian casualties and large-scale destruction.
The Secretary-General echoed the UN's position that hostilities against civilians are prohibited under international humanitarian law, and that such attacks, wherever they occur, must end immediately.
Guterres renewed his call for a ceasefire in Ukraine, and reiterated the UN’s support for efforts toward a lasting peace that fully upholds Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.
European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, have deplored Russia's onslaught.
