On November 11, 2025, a meeting was held at the XII General Church Congress on Social Service, during which assistance to those who returned from the front was discussed. The event was attended by employees of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service — the coordinator of the pastoral care service for those who returned from the front and their families, Priest Evgeny Lischenyuk, the head of the hospital department, Archpriest Sergiy Klyaev, as well as those responsible in dioceses for helping those who returned from the front.
Priest Evgeny Lishchenyuk spoke about the difficulties of adapting those who returned from the front to a peaceful life. He also noted the need to define a personal mission after returning from the conflict zone.
"You can often hear from those who returned from the front that everything was clear in the conflict zone. They are advised to return to a peaceful life, but what is it for him now? Before that, he had no personal mission, principles and values did not play a pronounced role. After a person found himself in a conflict zone, everything was clearly lined up, and a goal appeared. And when he returns home, he feels lost," Father Evgeny said.
The meeting participants also discussed the organization of visits by priests to the conflict zone for pastoral care of the wounded and the expansion of the geography of this ministry.
Since July 2023, priests from various dioceses of Russia have been regularly traveling to hospitals in the conflict zone to provide spiritual assistance to the wounded. During this time, 352 priests from 70 dioceses and 14 monasteries visited.
With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the XII Church-wide Congress on Social Service was held in Moscow on November 8-11. It began with the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and a plenary session. The largest charity forum of the Russian Orthodox Church brought together heads of social departments of dioceses, senior sisters of the sisterhoods of mercy, heads of charitable organizations, social workers, and representatives of government authorities. More than 1,000 people from 222 dioceses are taking part in the congress. The plenary session was chaired by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
One of the main topics of the congress is assistance to those who returned from the front and their families.
Since 2022, the Synodal Department for Charity has established a pastoral care service for those who returned from the front and their families. In February 2025, with the support of the Presidential Grants Fund, the "Return" project was launched, which aims to organize the Church's work on socio-psychological assistance and spiritual support to veterans of the SVR and their family members. You can ask for help around the clock by calling the hotline of the Synodal Department for Charity +7(800) 70-70-222.