News, events, statements

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!