Metropolitan Onufriy of the UOC (in unity with the Moscow Patriarchate) finally reacted to the Russian missile strike targeting Odesa, during which significant damage was inflicted on the UOC (MP)-run Transfiguration Cathedral.
The press service of the UOC (MP) published Onufriy’s statement, who on Monday morning held a divine service in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
Onufriy expressed his condolences to the clergy, believers, and residents of Odessa, where a Russian missile attack partially destroyed the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP) and residential buildings, and killed a local resident.
“Anyone who targets the sky ultimately hits himself,” said Onufriy, commenting on the destruction in Odesa.
In his address, he never declared the involvement of the Russian side and neither did he condemn the actions of the Russian army, which attacked Odesa yet again.
He also expresses his “condolences in connection with this great tragedy” and calls on the citizens to be humble.
“I call all of you, my dear, to humility and continuous prayer. Let’s temper our anger, not letting it turn into blind hate. Let’s not forget that, no matter how terrible this age is, in the end Divine Love will win, which cannot be destroyed by lies or violence,” Onufriy notes.
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense and Russian propagandists claimed that the attack on the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa was carried out by Ukrainian air defense forces. They said that their “high-precision weapons” hit “objects where terrorist attacks against the Russian Federation were being prepared” in Odesa, and, according to propaganda, a Ukrainian air defense missile hit the cathedral.
