Pope Francis, in a letter to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), called the actions of Russia, which attacked Ukraine on December 29 and January 2, "undignified and unacceptable" and such that "cannot be justified in any way."

"In a letter sent to His Beatitude Sviatoslav after Russia's massive attacks on Ukraine on December 29, 2023 and January 2, 2024, Pope Francis called Russia's actions 'undignified and unacceptable' and emphasized that they 'cannot be justified in any way," UGCC press service said in a statement received by Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.

"Once again, through you, I wish to express my closeness to 'long-suffering Ukraine,' to mourn the dead and believe in God's mercy, to console the wounded and embrace everyone who is suffering in any way," according to the pontiff's letter in response to Primate of UGCC dated December 29, 2023, in which Sviatoslav reported on the tragic consequences of Russia's largest missile attack on Ukraine.

According to the UGCC press service, the Pope expressed gratitude to the UGCC head: "Together with you, I share the same feelings of contempt and pain that you experience before military operations, which, having struck the civilian population and the civilian infrastructure of the entire country, are undignified and unacceptable and cannot be justified in any way."

Francis reportedly considers it extremely dangerous that "against the backdrop of dramatic international events, there is a risk that the war in Ukraine could become a 'forgotten' war." Therefore, "our duty is to do everything to ensure that this war is not shrouded in silence," "above all, to force all those responsible and the international community to search for peaceful solutions."

In the letter, Francis said he is using every opportunity to ensure that the war in Ukraine does not become "forgotten." "In today's general audience [on January 3, 2024], I urged not to forget the peoples where there is war, recalling that "war is madness, war is always a loss. Let's pray. Let us pray for the people in Palestine, Israel, Ukraine and many other places where there is war." I repeated the same on January 1 on World Peace Day and will continue to do so, calling loudly until the roar of weapons in Ukraine subsides and the path to a just peace."