Fundraising to support the Ukrainian refugees takes place in all churches of Russia

July 2014

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, on July 13, in all churches on the territory of Russia fundraising took place to support the civilian residents of the Ukraine who were forced to leave their homes, reports the Synodal Department for Church Charity.

The funds raised will be transferred to the account of the Synodal Department for Charity and are intended for purchase of necessary things in the regions with the largest numbers of the forced settlers from the Ukraine.

With the blessing of Patriarch Kirill, the Moscow Patriarchate’s Synodal Department for Charity is charged with the task of coordinating church aid to the refugees arrived on the territory of Russia. The department is receiving information on church organizations ready to accommodate the refugees from the Ukraine. The Church has sheltered the refugees in different regions and is giving them regular humanitarian aid; sisters of charity keep watch in tent cities of the Russian Ministry for Extraordinary Situations. Priests are sent to camp cities to support the refugees spiritually.

The work on rendering church aid to the refugees from the Ukraine arrived to the Voronezh and Rostov regions is the most active. Consignments of humanitarian aid are regularly delivered from the Rostov Diocese’s storage to the tent cities of the Ministry for Extraordinary Situations, to the frontier, and to municipal centers of temporary accommodation. Priests and church volunteers are arranging entertainment for the refugees’ children: they take them to water parks, zoos, and art schools at churches.

The details for fundraising to support the civilian residents of the Ukraine are published on the official website of the Synodal Department for Charity: www.diaconia.ru.

According to the Ministry for Extraordinary Situations, there are currently more than 20,000 refugees in the centers of temporary accommodation in Russia.

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