On January 27, 2025, a round table "Humanitarian work during World War II: Past and Present experiences" was held at the XXXIII International Christmas Educational Readings in the Patriarchal Hall of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. 
The event was jointly organized by the Synodal Department of Religious Education and Catechesis and the Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.
During the event, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, the ICRC, the Russian Red Cross, authorities, NGOs and historians discussed the experience of providing humanitarian assistance during the Second World War and its impact on modern approaches to this work.
Archpriest Mikhail Potokin, Head of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service, addressed the participants of the round table with a welcoming speech.
"The experience of not only humanitarian aid, but also human relations is very important,— said Archpriest Mikhail Potokin. — These human connections allow us to keep the peace and maintain mutual understanding between people. We cooperate a lot with the Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross on various issues, including the search for missing persons, assistance to refugees and injured civilians in the conflict zone. We thank you and look forward to further cooperation."
Boris Michel, Head of the ICRC Regional Delegation in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, delivered a speech during the round table. He spoke about the ICRC's work during World War II, the search for missing persons, assistance to prisoners of war, including Soviet ones, and modern approaches to humanitarian assistance to civilians affected by the conflict. Ruth Hetherington, Head of the Humanitarian Policy Department of the ICRC Regional Delegation to the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, noted the importance of the exchange of experience and cooperation between the ICRC and the Synodal Department for Charity.
Pavel Savchuk, Chairman of the Russian Red Cross (RCC), delivered a report on the activities of the Union of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies of the USSR. The issue of creating a Central Information Bureau and forming a search system based on the results of the Second World War was considered in the report by Sergey Kobets, Director General of the RKK Search and Information Center. Yulia Mogutova, an employee of the Department for Contractual Obligations and Neutral Mediation of the Bureau of the Central Agency for the Investigation of the ICRC, also spoke at the round table. She raised the topic of the activities of the ICRC Central Agency for Prisoners of War during the Second World War and the work of the ICRC Central Search Agency at the present time. Alexey Plotnikov, a member of the Scientific Council of the Russian Military Historical Society, considered the issue of the law of war and peace during the Second World War. The ICRC's Regional Coordinator for Cooperation with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Udo Wagner, made a presentation on the ICRC's role in managing the International Search Service in Germany (1955-2012) to search for missing persons. Alexey Konopatchenkov, Advisor to the Director of St. Demetrius College of Sisters of Mercy, Vice-President of the International Mauthausen Committee, Chairman of the Board of the Society of Former Russian Prisoners of Mauthausen, shared his experience of interaction between the Society of Former Russian Prisoners of Mauthausen and the archives of the International Search Service of the ICRC.
The round table featured an exhibition of photographs from the archives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which illustrates the humanitarian work of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement during the Second World War.
The cooperation of the Synodal Department for Charity with the Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus began in July 2023. The ICRC supports the Patriarchal Humanitarian Mission in the conflict zone, organizes seminars on safe behavior in areas contaminated with unexploded ordnance for volunteers of the Synodal Department for Charity and the Central Clinical Hospital of St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, and transmits humanitarian aid to affected civilians — building materials, household items, food, and medical supplies.