MOSCOW, September 30 – Novosti. About one and a half hundred churches in the regions that joined Russia were destroyed or damaged as a result of hostilities, the mission of the Russian Orthodox Church in these regions remains to promote the return to peaceful life, Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, adviser to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, told Novosti.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday at a ceremony in the Kremlin signed the Treaties on the admission of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions , the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics into the Russian Federation and the formation of new subjects in Russia.
“In the lands of the Donbass , Kherson region, Zaporozhye , many Orthodox churches were destroyed or in one way or another suffered from missile, bomb and artillery strikes, their number is approaching one and a half hundred, according to the data available today. This information needs further clarification that in the conditions ongoing hostilities in itself constitutes a difficult task,” the adviser to the patriarch told Novosti.
The mission of the Russian Orthodox Church in the current conditions, he added, remains to promote the return of peace and well-being to people who have suffered heavy suffering and loss in connection with the hostilities and shelling, which have been going on for more than eight years.
“The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church has established and is actively operating an Interdepartmental Working Group to coordinate assistance to dioceses in the conflict zone. I am one of the members of this group. The primary task is, where possible, to have time to prepare for winter, to create the necessary conditions for continuing the life of parishes and monasteries, the performance of divine services,” the archpriest added.
This, according to him, requires considerable funds, as well as the organization of energy supply, the delivery of building materials, specialists, workers, for whom it is necessary to provide safe accommodation and working conditions. At the same time, the ROC is forming a program of assistance to the dioceses, which will undertake the restoration of specific church facilities.
“A lot is already being done – in the Donetsk and Luhansk dioceses this fall, several seriously damaged churches were restored, about ten more are being urgently restored or modular church buildings are being erected, heat supply is being organized, field kitchens have been delivered for charitable meals on the basis of church institutions and their work has been ensured. , more than two thousand tons of humanitarian aid was sent by the church to refugees and civilians in the confrontation zone (more than 700 tons – only from the Moscow church headquarters), doctors, sisters of mercy and other volunteers go to the place, a center for prosthetics and rehabilitation is being organized at the Hospital of St. Moscow , doctors in the affected regions are provided with the necessary equipment and resources,” Balashov concluded.
Referendums on the issue of joining Russia were held from 23 to 27 September in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, as well as in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. According to the results of processing 100% of ballots in the DPR , 99.23% of those who voted for joining the Russian Federation, in the LPR – 98.42%, in the Kherson region – 87.05%, in the Zaporozhye region – 93.11%.
