WCC NEWS: WCC-ACT delegation visits Russia, sees church response to refugees from Ukraine

Following a mid-March visit to Ukraine and the bordering countries of Hungary and Romania, a World Council of Churches (WCC) and ACT Alliance delegation visited the Russian-Ukrainian border area around Rostov-on-Don on 22-26 May. 24 May 2022, Rostov-on-Don, Russia: Refugee families from Ukraine queue to receive aid packages at the main humanitarian aid centre of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) diocese of Rostov-on-Don in southwest Russia, located by the Protection of the Theotokos Church in Rostov-on-Don. The aid centre serves as a collection and distribution point for aid to refugees arriving from neighbouring Ukraine, close to a million of whom have fled to Russia according to mid-May figures from the United Nations (UNHCR) following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. The aid centre offers bi-weekly packages of food and other essentials for refugee families in and around Rostov-on-Don, as well as supplying pampers, clothing and other items upon request. The centre serves some 130 refugee families daily. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 02 June 2022 Both visits have taken place against the backdrop of a war causing millions of people to flee Ukraine. As the month of May drew to a close, UNHCR figures indicate nearly 7 million people have crossed the borders to neighbouring countries, close to a million of whom to Russia. 23 May 2022, Taganrog, Russia: Members of a delegation from the World Council of Churches and the ACT Alliance are briefed by director Alexei Resvanov at the Romashka sports and recreation complex in Zolotaya Kosa, southwest Russia near the border to Ukraine. Romashka hosts several hundred refugees from the Donbas region in Ukraine, most of them children from orphanages in Donetsk, evacuated as military tensions grew in eastern Ukraine and along the border between Ukraine and Russia in mid-February 2022. While the refugees receive Russian state support for accommodation and meals, the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) Rostov-on-Don diocese also accompanies them, providing spiritual and psychosocial support, as well as processing and responding to individual or more specific requests or needs expressed by the refugees. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC Upon invitation from the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) – a member of both the WCC and ACT Alliance – the delegation visited aid centres and places of temporary accommodation for refugees from Ukraine in the Rostov-on-Don and Shakhty dioceses, both of which border the Donbas region of southeast Ukraine. In Rostov-on-Don and Shakhty, the Russian Orthodox Church accompanies refugees primarily from Donbas, and while some refugee families receive accommodation and food support from the Russian state, the church also accompanies them through spiritual and psychosocial support, as well as by collecting and distributing aid packages for self-housed refugee families. 24 May 2022, Novoshakhtinsk, Russia: A church volunteer distributes clothing to a refugee woman from Ukraine at the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) Shakhty diocese's aid centre for Ukrainian refugees at the Church of the Don Icon of the Mother of God, in Novoshakhtinsk, southwest Russia. Following the eruption of war in Ukraine, many refugees from the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine have taken refuge across the border in neighbouring Russia. Located close to the border, the aid centre serves as a collection and distribution point for aid to refugees arriving from neighbouring Ukraine, close to a million of whom have fled to Russia according to mid-May figures from the United Nations (UNHCR) following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC The visit also included opportunities to meet and listen to local church leaders and how they work to respond to current realities in the region. 23 May 2022, Rostov-on-Don, Russia: Metropolitan Mercury of Rostov and Novocherkassk receives members of a delegation from the World Council of Churches and the ACT Alliance. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC For WCC deputy general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, the visit served as a reminder of the importance of churches engaging in ecumenical diakonia – a substantive publication on which is forthcoming from the WCC. 23 May 2022, Taganrog, Russia: A girl plays in an open courtyard at the Kotlostroitel Children’s Wellness Centre ”Sunny” in the village of Krasnydesant, near Taganrog in southwest Russia, which following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February serves as temporary accommodation for refugees from the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine — most of them women, children and elderly people. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC “Churches, specialized ministries, ecumenical organizations have shown deeply inspiring work to support those who are fleeing inside and outside Ukraine since the beginning of the war this past February. We see the importance of the role of ecumenical diakonia in the life of the church, and pray that this heartfelt response will continue,” Phiri reflected. 24 May 2022, Rostov-on-Don, Russia: Church volunteers prepare aid packages in a storage room at the main humanitarian aid centre of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) diocese of Rostov-on-Don in southwest Russia, located by the Protection of the Theotokos Church in Rostov-on-Don. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC For the general secretary of the ACT Alliance Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, this visit evidenced the traumatic and stressful experience refugees face in conflict situations. “It is crucial that humanitarian actors, including churches, affirm the primacy of the humanitarian imperative, and take action to prevent and alleviate human suffering arising out of this war. Refugees must be assured that humanitarian principles are upheld, and nothing should override them,” Bueno de Faria said. Recalling the experience of travelling along the border west of Ukraine, WCC director of international affairs Peter Prove reflected on the importance of witnessing humanitarian realities on all sides of the war, in order to support adequate measures for peace long-term. 23 May 2022, Taganrog, Russia: A woman refugee pushes a pram through a pathway at the Kotlostroitel Children’s Wellness Centre ”Sunny” in the village of Krasnydesant, near Taganrog in southwest Russia, which following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February serves as temporary accommodation for refugees from the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine — most of them women, children and elderly people. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC “While it may be difficult to see a clear path to peace in this conflict, as a worldwide fellowship of churches we must continue to engage and to support efforts for genuine dialogue between all parties involved. And in the midst of all this, it is essential that humanitarian efforts – of which churches form a significant part – remain neutral and provide for people in need wherever they are and from wherever they come,” Prove said. 24 May 2022, Manychskaya, Russia: Evening sunlight falls over a church tower in Manychskaya, in southwest Russia. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC Photo gallery: Russia, May 2022 See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC acting general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, from the Orthodox Church in Romania.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland