Archimandrite Vassian (Zmeev), head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, visited the Jerusalem Patriarchate on August 12, 2024, where he was received by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus III of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine, the mission's website reports.
Archimandrite Vassian was accompanied by the cleric of the mission, Hieromonk Peter (Borodulin) and the head of the office, Nun Serafima (Ivanchik). The meeting was attended by the Chief Secretary of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, Archbishop Aristarchus of Constantine.
During the conversation, the head of the mission informed His Beatitude about the difficult situation on the border of the Kursk region as a result of the invasion of the Russian territory by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who fired at the Gornalsky Nikolaevsky Monastery and destroyed temples and monastery buildings on its territory, resulting in the death of a monastery worker. Pointing to the scale of the aggression of the Ukrainian military against civilians, Archimandrite Vassian said that several more churches located near the border of Ukraine were damaged, and that there is still no communication with some clergy and the possibility of their evacuation.
His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus expressed his condolences over the deaths of civilians and the destruction of churches in the Kursk diocese, and noted the need to pray for those who are currently in danger due to military operations. According to His Beatitude, a difficult situation persists in the Gaza Strip, where civilians are also being killed during a long-term military operation and the very presence of Christians in the region is seriously threatened.
At the end of the meeting, His Beatitude expressed the hope that the Lord God, by His mercy, will help end conflicts and restore peace and harmony between countries and peoples.