Metropolitan Ukrainian Orthodox Church condemns Bucha horrors, but does not mention names

Instead, the Primate stated that murderers and rapists will have to face God's judgment, Glavcom reports. "I learned from today's news about what happened in Bucha", the Primate said. "This is terrible. Grief filled my heart. I am bringing those who committed this violence to God's court, from which no one will be able to hide."

Horrible images have appeared from Ukrainian towns, such as Bucha, where hundreds of civilians were killed, raped, and tortured in the past few days. Russia still denies the killings. The federation strongly argues that the pictures are fake and that the Russian army is not involved in the massacre of civilians.

So far, Metropolitan Onufriy has expressed himself very critical about the invasion repeatedly. On the first day, he compared the war with the battle between the brothers Cain and Abel.

Metropolitan of Zaporizhia en Melitopol still commemorates Patriarch Kirill

The Metropolitan of the same church in Zaporizhia and Melitopol still supports Patriarch Kirill from the Moscow Patriarchate. The 50-year-old Luka is the Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate and still commemorates Patriarch Kirill during his sermons, he says in an interview with BBC. According to Luka, it is sinful to stop doing so. In the past few weeks, there was discussion whether churches are obliged to mention Kirill in the prayers.

Luka points out that sin is the root of the conflict and that, thus, every human being is responsible for the war. He also argues that gay parades are part of the sins that cause God's wrath. "It is one of the reasons, but not insignificant."

The metropolitan furthermore argues that he does not know the concept of the Russian world, which is an essential motivation behind the Russian invasion. "I do not know what the Russian world is. I know what the Orthodox world is. And that does not extend only to Russia, Ukraine or Greece. It is the fullness of the world." The only thing he wants to say about that is that Russia and Ukraine once were one nation. "But now, historically, we have two nations, two states. And the worst thing is that those who came out of the same font now kill each other."