Ukraine under attack. During the night between 13 and 14 May, Russian forces launched more than 670 attack drones and 56 missiles against Ukraine. Ballistic, aeroballistic and cruise missiles were used. “These are by no means the actions of someone who believes the war is ending”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The death toll remains provisional and continues to rise hour by hour. In Kyiv alone, the number of dead has risen to 24, including three children. According to the capital’s emergency services, Moscow’s offensive – one of the most intense in recent months – also left 47 people injured, while rescue operations continue without interruption among the rubble of the damaged buildings. The Darnytskyi district was particularly affected with emergency teams working for hours to save people. With daylight, the scale of the destruction is becoming clearer. In twenty areas of the city, residential buildings, a school, a veterinary clinic and other civilian infrastructure were hit. Zelensky also reported damage in the Kyiv region and “terrorist attacks” against energy infrastructure in Kremenchuk and against the port and residential areas in Chornomorsk. In recent hours, Ukrainska Pravda reported that a new Russian drone attack caused fires in hard-to-reach areas within the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Fortunately, the State Agency for the Prevention and Control of Nuclear Weapons assured that, despite the fires, radiation levels in the exclusion zone remain within control limits, while stressing that “Russian attacks once again pose a threat to the ecosystem”.
“The situation is truly desperate”, Auxiliary Bishop Oleksandr Yazlovetskyi of the Diocese of Kyiv-Zhytomyr and president of Caritas-Spes Ukraine, said from Kyiv.
“The Russians have just celebrated Victory Day and during those days they did not bomb us. But now they are making up for everything they spared during that period: more than a thousand heavy drones, the Iranian-made ones, together with ballistic missiles, have been launched in a single wave since yesterday. The air raid sirens sounded throughout the night and stopped only a short while ago. For hours, there were deafening explosions: buildings shook one after another. As a believer, I cannot fail to notice that the attacks took place on 13 May, the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima, who called for prayers for the conversion of Russia”.
The bishop continued: “Our military forces were unable to intercept everything and, even when they succeeded in hitting the targets, debris still fell causing damage. A nine-storey building was severely hit. Sadly, there are once again reports of deaths and more than forty injured people, including children. Some of our priests immediately went to the site and found the emergency services already at work, rapidly intervening to assist those affected and those trapped beneath the rubble. They therefore did not allow us to enter. For our part, we continue to pray”. The bishop said he had the opportunity to meet many people despite the alerts and the risk of further bombardments. “Speaking with them was deeply moving”, he said. “Almost all told me they had not slept, especially those with children. Yet few left their homes to seek shelter in bunkers or underground stations. In a certain sense, people have become accustomed to the war: they remain at home, perhaps shelter in the bathroom, and pray. It has become a sort of normality, however dramatic”.
The bishop observed: “Many people, including in diplomatic language, speak of a truce and ceasefire. These might seem like a good starting point for building peace. However, in reality, the Russians seem to be using these pauses only to rearm themselves: they conserve missiles and resources in order to strike with greater intensity immediately afterwards. There are no genuine signs of goodwill on their part. The conditions they set as prerequisites for opening negotiations are unacceptable to Ukrainians”.
“What discourages us most is the feeling of being forgotten”, Bishop Yazlovetskyi concluded.
“I understand that it is easy to do good and help someone occasionally. But taking on a lasting responsibility towards a person or a situation requires a courage that not everyone possesses. That is why we continue to ask for sensitivity, closeness and support: even simply through prayer or words of encouragement”.
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