Regular session of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church was held in Moscow on August 25, presided by Patriarch Kirill.

"We are meeting at a time when, as you know, all is not quiet in the expanses of Holy Russia. Many people are suffering today, really suffering, but this suffering did not begin now, as some claim, but has continued for the past eight years," said the Patriarch Kirill in his opening address. - A great many people in Donbass have indeed been subjected to tremendous distress. And wherever justice is violated, there is always resistance to injustice, and this entire eight-year history of suffering has brought its fruits today." 

The Russian Orthodox Church has been advocating peaceful solution of the Ukrainian crisis, but Patriarch Kirill reminds that peace is unattainable without cessation of repressions and restoring justice which is the objective of the present military operation of the Russian Armed Forces:

"Our Church always carries the word of peace, of reconciliation; the Church can have no other word," - the Patriarch continued. - "But one cannot say 'peace' without speaking of justice. Peace without justice is what perpetuates human suffering, and peace without justice will not  last."

"Let us pray that all these events will end as quickly as possible, that peace and justice will descend on the land of Donbass, that opportunities will arise for the peaceful existence of people, for the further economic, spiritual and cultural development of these regions," His Holiness concluded.