STATEMENT BY PATRIARCH OF KIEV AND ALL-RUS-UKRAINE FILARET REGARDING SHELLING OF BUS BY PRO-KREMLIN TERRORISTS
On 13 January 2015, the shelling of a checkpoint of Ukrainian armed forces near the residential area of Volnovakha, Donetsk province, was carried out from territory controlled by pro-Kremlin terrorists of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic. As a result of the shelling, more than ten civilians who were inside the commuter bus were killed and about twenty were wounded.
According to the report of Ukrainian officials, the shelling of the checkpoint was conducted by terrorists from a residential area of the village of Dokuchaevsk with the goal of provoking fire from the side of the Ukrainian armed forces. Journalists who were Russians and under the control of pro-Kremlin terrorists arrived at Dokuchaevsk in advance with the aim of filming "the shelling of civilians by Ukrainian armed forces" in order to use these images in anti-Ukrainian propaganda.
This shameful, bloody act by terrorists is one of hundreds or even thousands of terrorist acts which, beginning in the spring of last year, are continually carried out by pro-Kremlin forces in Donetsk and Luhansk provinces. The murder of civilians by terrorists is a horrible and shameful thing, but yet more shameful is the goal of this act, placing under threat the lives of civilian residents of territory under the control of terrorists in order to create "a televised picture" for Kremlin propaganda.
Terrorism does not have a justification in either any form or under any slogans. It is evil which must not only be morally condemned but also punished in accordance with Ukrainian and international law.
Various pro-Kremlin illegal armed formations in the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics have already been recognized in Ukraine as terrorists. The shelling by terrorist of a bus with civilians near Volnovakha is a criminal act that loudly presents the demand to the international community to also recognize the so-called DPR, LPR, and the armed formations operating on their side as terrorist organizations.
In the name of the Kiev patriarchate, I appeal to the United Nations Organization, the OSCE, the countries of the European Union, the USA, Canada, and the international community to recognize the so-called DPR, LPR, and the armed formation operating on their side as terrorist organizations, and any countries, organizations, or persons who support these terrorists as sponsors of terrorism, with all legal consequences.
I call believers to prayer for the souls of the departed, for the recovery of the wounded, and for victory in the struggle with terrorism and the establishment of a just peace in Ukraine.
May God help everyone who is striving for justice and against terroristic evil!
Filaret
Patriarch of Kiev and all-Rus-Ukraine
13 January 2015
(tr. by PDS, posted 14 January 2015)
Posted by the Press Center of the Kiev patriarchate, 13 January 2015
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