Dear friends!

Today's date – the 75^th anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine from the German invaders – is another reason for us to bow our heads to the feat of those who saved our land at the cost of incredible efforts and their shed blood. Millions of lives were given in order to liberate Ukraine from the bearers of a man-hateful ideology that considered the Slavs, Jews and representatives of other peoples as “non-humans” to be destroyed or enslaved. 75 years ago, during the Great War, people began to value the concepts of “peace” and “human life” in a new way.

Unfortunately, today we live in a society where the spiritual heirs of Nazism once again raise their heads, and where politicians do not feel shy calling to reconsider the results of the Great Patriotic War. Just a while ago, desecration of the symbols of the Victory and the memory of Heroes was encouraged at the level of the country's top leadership, and institutions aiming to reconsider our recent past were funded at public expense. Ukrainian people have made an appraisal of these forces in the attempts of the latter to rewrite the history, and again showed their wisdom.

On 1 October, after a lengthy debate, the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk came to an agreed position on the peacebuilding process. I understand that this compromise was far not easy. Yet, we all got a chance for effective top-level negotiations in the Normandy format, and a chance for the political reinforcement of agreements to cease the hostilities, as well as a chance for the return of the Donbas to Ukraine. We simply ought to use this chance.

There are and there will be no winners and no losers in the new peacebuilding process, because peace and peaceful development are a common value and a shared goal that will make Ukraine strong and united. A major challenging task is ahead of us, that is to lift the economic blockade, to synchronize actions, to implement mutual guarantees of security, to ensure a fair expression of will for all residents of the Donbas (let us not forget that they are the citizens of Ukraine), to restore the sovereign border and further develop the Donbas in a full-fledged manner as an integral part of our country.

The exchange of prisoners has taken place. For dozens of people, a real nightmare of prisons and camps has come to an end. Their families will keep celebrating this day for a long time as an important event in their life, as one of the most joyful days. After all, real human destinies, real people, their feelings and sufferings are behind the exchange process.

With this exchange of prisoners, a process of normalization of relations between Ukraine and Russia begins. The Orthodox Church has played an important role in these processes and in the restoration of peace. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy have taken great efforts to make today's exchange happen, and the capacity of the Church is not confined only to this.

I congratulate all those who have gained their long-awaited freedom today! This is a very important, very tangible step towards a real peace, which, I am sure, will soon come to the Ukrainian land, and relations between Ukraine and Russia will again become good neighbourly and fraternal relations, as they used to be throughout our history.

On the first working day of the Verkhovna Rada of the IX convocation, the rights of seven legitimately and duly elected MPs from the Opposition Bloc were violated. Well in advance and in line with a prescribed procedure, a group of seven MPs from the Opposition Bloc submitted their applications to the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada regarding their membership in parliamentary committees. These applications were reflected in the working materials of the preparatory group of MPs. The personal composition of the committees was preliminary approved by this group at a meeting attended by representatives of all the political parties, which was reflected in the Draft Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada submitted by the preparatory group before the first working day of the Verkhovna Rada of the new convocation. However, later the names of the Opposition Bloc MPs were excluded from the Draft Resolution put to the vote in the session room of the Parliament, without prior coordination with them. The MPs’ right to work in the Verkhovna Rada committees, which is guaranteed by the Laws of Ukraine "On the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine", "On the Status of People's Deputy of Ukraine" and "On Committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine", was grossly violated. In addition, most importantly, the constitutional right of voters to have representatives in the supreme legislative body was flagrantly breached for those voters who delegated their power to the people's deputies from the Opposition Bloc.

Dear friends!

I wholeheartedly congratulate you on the feast of the Holy Assumption of the Mother of God!

Virgin Mary was the Most Holy Temple, in which the Holy Spirit dwell. The Son of God received human nature in Her. It would seem, what is the reason to celebrate and rejoice that the Mother of God left this world? 

Yet, the fact of the matter is that She did not die as ordinary people die. Her death was not death, but a blissful assumption – the transition to eternal life. The Lord Himself came to take her soul, and the body of the Blessed Virgin Mary was ascended to heaven. On that day, we did not lose Her, but found Her at the Throne of God, the most powerful defender.

Since the first days of the Baptism of our people, the Most Holy Mother of God has been especially revered in our land. The heart of our Orthodoxy – the Holy Assumption Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra – is revered by Christians around the world as one of the abodes of the Holy Mother.

Other shrines of Ukraine – Pochayiv and Svyatogorsk Lavras, many monasteries and churches throughout Ukraine are also dedicated to the Assumption of the Mother of God. Our ancestors believed in Her intercession and protection, and always turned to Her for help in the most difficult moments of life. She never left anybody without consolation and help.

Happy Miner's Day!

Today, Ukraine celebrates a professional holiday – the Miner's Day, the day of those who represent one of the most difficult, dangerous and, at the same time, one of the most respected professions. Thanks to miners' labour, steel-making works and thermal power plants keep operating, the country's economy is getting stronger and the comfort of citizens is ensured. I want to convey my most cordial congratulations to miners of Chervonograd and Novovolynsk, Vatutino and Pavlograd, as well as the entire Donbass – a huge coal region divided today by the war and dirty political games.

Today, we also celebrate the 150^th anniversary since the founding of Donetsk city, the heart of the Ukrainian Donbass.

Dear Donetsk residents!

This is a double holiday for you, as the history of Donetsk's development is inextricably linked with coal mining. Today, we are separated by the front line, checkpoints, human tragedies, crimes of politicians, and interests of external forces. Yet, we have a lot that unites us: our common history, family ties and friendship, Orthodox values and traditions. I believe that the war will end soon, and we will take joint efforts to heal the wounds, to learn to trust and believe each other again.

Dear friends!

I congratulate you on the Independence Day of Ukraine, the birthday of Ukrainian statehood. Let our state regain its true independence, lost in recent years, and let it become reputable and influential.

In 1991, the founding fathers of the state saw Ukraine as a country where the development of all languages and cultures, equal rights of all citizens, of all faiths would be guaranteed. Unfortunately, 28 years later, attempts were made to replace their words and thoughts with hundred years old nationalist constructs. Independence has become a decoration, and the future of Ukraine is being decided without its participation by the so-called "strategic partners." However, the citizens of Ukraine understand that we have our own interests and goals: we need peace in the Donbass, peace with our neighbours, peace inside the country.

Ukraine will necessarily be united and revived with our Orthodox values, mutual respect, mutual trust and mutual help. I wish you, my dear compatriots, faith in Ukraine and its bright future, love, peace and, most importantly, wisdom.

Happy Holiday!

Two thousand years ago, Christ revealed His divine essence to humankind through the miracle of the Transfiguration. The light of Christ shone then on the Mount Tabor, and today it shines the same way as it shone then. It shines in the heart of every Christian believer.

The Transfiguration is the pathway that Christ commanded each of us to go. A human being is transformed or transfigured by the word of the Lord, from prayer to God, from inner communication with Him, from that bright grace that visits praying hearts.

The light of the Transfiguration of Christ never fades in the hearts of those who sincerely love Christ, who follow Him, who live according to His commandments. And let no darkness and enmity shadow it in our souls.

Congratulations, dear Orthodox Christians!

Peace, light and love to all of us!

Today marks five years since the day when His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine stood at the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

This event has truly historical significance for the fate of the canonical Orthodox Church and the entire Ukrainian people.

The election of the high priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church coincided with the difficult trials that befell our country. War and turmoil, attempts to draw the Church into political confrontations, gross interference of politicians in the affairs of the Church, artificial heating of the church schism and the beginning of persecution against canonical Orthodoxy ...

His Beatitude Onufry in this situation acted as a true peacemaker, not succumbing to temptations and passions and not taking the side of one or another force in a civil conflict. For five years, he has been tirelessly praying for peace and, by personal example, calls on the citizens of Ukraine to the most important thing - reconciliation and love, and the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church that he leads continues to carry out its saving peacekeeping mission in all the territories of now divided Ukraine, thereby invisibly preserving and her unity.

I want to express deep gratitude to him for everything that he does for all of us - the multimillion flock of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, each time "laying down his soul for his sheep."

Today steel-makers of Mariupol have a holiday. 86 years ago, on 12 August 1933, blast furnace No. 1 of Azovstal Iron & Steel Works gave the first cast iron to the country. This day can rightfully be considered as the birthday of Azovstal Works, one of the flagships of Ukrainian industry.

I sincerely congratulate employees of Azovstal and all Mariupol residents on this date. I wish you that the noble profession of a metallurgist always enjoys people's love and respect. May your labour find its worthy appreciation in society, so that the fruits of your labour would strengthen the economy of Ukraine and contribute to its reputation in the world. So that you and your children could confidently look into the future that you are building, in spite of any difficulties, demonstrating real responsibility for the prosperity of our country. I wish you peace, luck, good health and simple human happiness! All the best!

Happy Birthday to Azovstal, dear Mariupol residents!

Political persecution of opponents by the authorities must become a thing of the past. Contrary to the expectations of many Ukrainian citizens, as well as political forces that opposed political repression and themselves became objects of persecution by the authorities, the chief editor of RIA Novosti Ukraine, Kyryl Vyshynskyi, has not been released.

The journalist has been held in the pre-trial detention facility for over a year as a political hostage. Since detention, his custody was repeatedly extended. The prosecutor's office delayed the provision of the case files. More than a year has passed, yet the indictment has not been read out. The process of the case consideration on its merits is artificially delayed.

On the same charges of treason, an attempt on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, Alexander Yefremov has been in jail for more than three years – his case is artificially delayed in similar fashion. Today hundreds of people in Ukraine are behind the bars on political charges.

I am often asked what is the difference between our political force, the OPPOSITION BLOC Party, and the Opposition Platform – For Life Party (OPFL).

I can understand people, because OPFL actively exploits the branding and the rhetoric of the OPPOSITION BLOC, using leading television channels, which belong to the same OPFL, for their propaganda.

OPFL was created by people who actively played up to Petro Poroshenko during his entire period in power and visited his office on Bankova Street more often than their own office. They helped bring Poroshenko to the second round of the recent presidential election. These people were expelled from the OPPOSITION BLOC faction in the parliament, because their unsound ambitions went against the party and the people who voted for the OPPOSITION BLOC in 2014.

Now, the list of OPFL’s members comprises 11 people from Poroshenko's entourage. Their list includes Ilya Kiva, who in 2014-2016 called for the killing of the Donbas residents, and who now is in the party that is supposed to represent the interests of the southeast. The list of OPFL just looks like crossing a grass snake with a hedgehog. Just a while ago, politicians who are now next to each other in the list were slinging mud at each other without any hesitation. After getting seats in the Parliament, this party will immediately split into groups of interests, and they are unlikely to think about the interests of their voters.

Today in Odesa, together with the city mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov, MP Sergey Kivalov, members of the Opposition Bloc factions in local councils of Odesa region, as well as our like-minded supporters, and believers of Odesa city and the region, we walked in the Sacred Procession on the day of memory of the Holy, Glorious and All-praised Leaders of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, and the celebration of the miraculous Kasperovskaya Icon of the Mother of God – the Heavenly Patron of the Black Sea region.

About 5,000 people took part in the procession with the miraculous Kasperovskaya Icon of the Queen of Heaven. The procession went from the Holy Assumption Cathedral in Preobrazhenskaya Street to the Transfiguration Cathedral in the Cathedral Square. The festive Divine Liturgy in the Holy Assumption Cathedral of Odesa was performed by His Eminence Agathangel, Metropolitan of Odesa and Izmail. A festive prayer service was held on the square in front of the cathedral, during which the clergy and believers offered up prayers for peace in Ukraine and the prosperity of Odesa.

May the wonderworking image of the Kasperovskaya Icon of the Mother of God protect Odesa and all of Ukraine the same way as it saved the city from the enemy troops in 1854, in the Crimean War! We pray for peace in our country.

On 11 July, together with Director General Enver Tskitishvili, I met with labour veterans of Azovstal Iron & Steel Works. 

We discussed the issue of capital repairs of the building that houses the council of veterans of the Works. Over the next year the building will be renovated, its exterior part will be brought in line with modern refurbishment standards. We will plant new trees and flowers, and will make some improvements in the courtyard. 

Our goal is to make it comfortable and pleasant for Azovstal labour veterans to stay in the building, since this is the centre of their community life. This is the place where they spend their time together, share problems and solve common tasks.

The repair work will begin in two weeks.

Today we met with representatives of Mirnyi self-organization committee of residents. I call residents’ self-organization committees as population rescue committees, because they were created when tenants were left to fend for themselves, and now, thanks to their own efforts, responsibility, and initiative, they have taken the quality of their life into their own hands.

The result of such management is very worthy. Now a new team has come to power in Mariupol, having new management methods, as a result such a link has appeared: between a residents’ self-organization committee and a deputy of the city council assigned to each self-organization committee of tenants. Thanks to this, among other things, they managed to balance the budget, to optimize expenses and make the municipal expenses transparent so that Mariupol residents could see on what the money is spent.

Mariupol residents need to unite and resolve their common problems through joint efforts.

In our time, it is extremely important to revive family values and the continuity of generations.  This was discussed on 3 July at the holiday on the occasion of the 65^thanniversary of a residential building at the meeting of Mashinostroitel self-organization committee of the population (condominium).

On the occasion of the celebration, a concert was held in the courtyard of the building, where all tenants gathered – from young to old ones. It was really warm and cosy there. I really felt like home. I grew up in a similar courtyard. I remember how parents and neighbours got together, played dominoes, chess, talked and sang songs. It feels as if I have returned to my childhood.

65 years from the date of building a house is a good milestone! Such good occasions are needed as they unite people. It is important that older people communicate with young people, pass over their experience and their life values. Nothing can replace the warmth of human communication. The guarantee for prosperity and successful community life lies in close connection between self-organization committees (condominiums), city authorities and deputies of local councils.

On 24 June, Mariupol hosted a large-scale forum “Together to Peace” organized by our team of the Opposition Bloc. The forum was attended by the mayor of Mariupol Vadym Boychenko, city council members, labour veterans, and active representatives of the city community supporting the Opposition Bloc’s program aimed at establishing peace and stable development of the city.

I addressed Mariupol residents with the key provisions of my electoral program, which were, are and will be our main goals: ending the war, establishing sustainable peace, economic revival, protecting the interests of working men and supporting canonical Orthodoxy. For five years, the previous authorities did everything to divide Ukraine and divide Ukrainians into the right and the wrong ones. Now it is time to unite it. We will start with Mariupol, the metallurgical capital of Ukraine.

Dear Friends!

I wholeheartedly want to congratulate you on the bright and solemn feast – the Day of the Most Holy Trinity!

At the call of the heart and with the grace of the Lord, millions of people gathered today in all Orthodox churches throughout the planet to recollect in a common prayer a great event when an unprecedented thing happened in Jerusalem – the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles, the first Disciples of Christ.

That day our Holy Orthodox Church was born in the Cenacle, and we celebrate the great sacrament of the union of the Divine and the human.

I want to wish all of us God's help. May the Lord, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, give us everything necessary for our Christian life! 

Peace, love and joy to all of us! Birthday greetings to our Mother Church!