Russian invasion of Ukraine hits one-year mark

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reached its one-year anniversary, with few signs the conflict is nearing its end.

On the morning of Thursday, 24 February 2022, Russia announced a “special military operation”, with air strikes and a ground invasion beginning minutes later.

Since the 2022 invasion the UN Human Rights Commission has recorded nearly 19,000 civilian casualties – more than 7,000 killed and nearly 12,000 injured. More than 12 million people have been driven from their home since Russian forces invaded their country and launched deadly missile attacks.

In its three decades of independence Ukraine has sadly seen many hostilities as it has sought to forge its own path as a sovereign state, including when Russia annexed Crimea and began arming separatists in the Dombas region in the country’s southeast.

Australia has played its part in helping those affected by the conflict, providing $655 million in support, including $475 million in military assistance.

Australia has also granted more than 9,500 visas for people from Ukraine and nearly 4,500 of those have arrived in the country already, with some settling within the Diocese of Broken Bay.

A number of Catholic organisations have also been heavily involved in supporting people in Ukraine.

Caritas Internationalis has been providing hygiene kits for families, providing social workers to support displaced families, providing transitional housing to refugees, and providing emergency provisions to displaced families.

Aid to the Church in Need has also been providing support to the Catholic Church in Ukraine, helping them to remain on the ground and keep serving their flock in the face of war. Priests and religious are in turn able to provide support to many people, especially refugees, orphans and the elderly.

Financial support to both charities goes a long way in helping people displaced by the horrific war.

Any diplomatic resolution is certainly not on the horizon – but we can pray. Below is the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Prayer for Peace and Justice in Ukraine. Prayer for Peace and Justice in Ukraine

God of peace and justice, who change the hardened heart and break the power of violence, we entrust the people of Ukraine to you.

Protect them in this time of peril; let them know not death but life, not slavery but freedom.

You are father of all; we are brothers and sisters.

Give us strength to live that truth in love, choosing peace not war.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.