Ukrainian Archbishop: War with Russia Has Reached a ‘Tipping Point’

ROME — Ukrainian Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said Wednesday that a tipping point has been reached in the war with Russia and Ukraine is “beginning to overcome.”

In his video message announcing the beginning of the third week of the “great tragedy” of the war, Archbishop Shevchuk offered the world “words of hope from Ukraine.”

It is a hope “that can truly be felt among our people, among our army,” the archbishop said, because it is “truly felt that Ukraine is beginning to overcome.”

“Many experts and analysts are saying that the war in Ukraine is passing into a new moment. Some are speaking of a tipping point,” Shevchuk said.

“Not only has the Ukrainian army stopped the enemy, but it is also beginning a counterattack,” he continued. “We have begun to liberate our cities and villages, we are freeing our Ukrainian land.”

While this turning point is positive for Ukraine, it also makes Russia more desperate and dangerous, he proposed.

“On the other hand, they speak of a very dangerous moment in this war, because the enemy is engaging in the tactic of total war, that is, they are thoughtlessly destroying our cities and villages, bombing everything that can be destroyed,” he said.

“This night once more our Ukrainian Kyiv experienced an attack by Russian rockets. Once more Kharkiv and Chernihiv are burning,” he went on.

“Even Odesa, which had been peaceful until now, has been hit. Ukrainian Mariupol is suffering. But Ukraine is fighting. Ukraine believes in its victory,” he said.

The archbishop also focused on the suffering that the war has brought to Ukraine’s children.

“Beholding the children of Ukraine who are suffering from the war, the human heart cannot but be in anguish from pain and sorrow,” he said.

According to UNICEF statistics, “every second, a child in Ukraine becomes a refugee,” the archbishop said. “Just according to official information, almost 100 children have died as a result of bombing. An even greater number has been wounded.”

“The blood of innocent children is on the hands of the criminals who began this war,” he warned. “We want to fight for their future. We want to defend peace and peaceful skies precisely for them.”

In his message, Shevchuk also expressed the satisfaction of the Ukrainian people with the news that Pope Francis will consecrate Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25, when many Christians celebrate the angel’s annunciation to the Virgin Mary that she would give birth to Jesus.

“With great hope we place the Ukrainian nation, our state, under the protection of the immaculate Virgin Mary,” the archbishop said.