In recent months, international attention to Ukraine has diminished somewhat because of the war in Iran. This is understandable: even a sincerely sympathetic audience cannot endure an unbroken stream of tragic news, so the media must moderate that flow, particularly when new major conflicts erupt elsewhere.
This article, however, does not seek to recapture European audiences’ attention with new shocking facts. Rather, it seeks to examine the moral and spiritual challenges facing Ukraine’s people and Church. First, a few general facts about the country’s current situation, expressed in the dry language of statistics. Yet we must remember the countless human lives behind these numbers.
The war’s impact on society
Human losses. Total irreversible human losses since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 have exceeded 100,000. We cannot give an exact figure because the state does not publish military losses. So far, 15,172 civilian deaths and 41,378 injuries have been documented. About 35,000 military personnel and civilians are considered missing.
Migration. Approximately 3.7 million people are internally displaced, having left occupied or frontline areas for safer parts of the country, while another 5.9 million have left Ukraine. Alongside deaths, injuries and disappearances, migration contributes to the economic crisis. The labour market is in crisis: vacancies outnumber applicants, with critical shortages in many sectors. Government-controlled regions have lost about a quarter of their pre-war workforce. Kyiv faces the worst situation, with 24 vacancies per applicant. Shortages affect skilled trades, transport, medicine and construction alike.
Territorial losses and destruction. Around 20% of the country, approximately 118,000 square kilometres, is occupied. More than 236,000 residential buildings have been destroyed or damaged during the invasion. Some 2.5 million housing units, 13% of Ukraine’s housing stock, have been destroyed. So have 26,000 kilometres of roads, more than 4,000 schools and thousands of cultural and social facilities.
Yet the war’s destructive exhaustion of the country continues. No one knows when it will end.
Moral and existential challenges
What can we say about people’s psychological, emotional and spiritual condition, and the challenges we face today? What theological response is needed?
Russia’s war of attrition against Ukraine has exposed numerous problems.
The first is existential resilience. Despite grievous losses, Ukraine is not gripped by panic; people are not inclined towards surrender or peace at any price. Yet resilience has a cost: emotional, psychological and physical exhaustion. What we call resilience often consists of automatic actions following stable patterns formed under pressure. A dulled sense of fear and danger combined with a powerful desire to live—this describes much of our resilience.
The second is a heightened sense of justice. Russia’s attack has entered public consciousness as an act of cruelty and betrayal, and its powerful propaganda as an extreme expression of falsehood at the level of an entire aggressor state. The question of a just peace is therefore urgent. This is what we need, not its substitute: appeasement of the enemy. The question acquires theological significance, returning us to old debates about war and peace, pacifism and self-defence, and the distinction between the use of force and violence.
The third concerns defence and pacifism. Experience has taught us that pacifism is a luxury not everyone can afford. One person’s right to live peacefully is secured by another’s self-sacrifice and readiness to stop an aggressor even at the cost of life. In a sinful world, someone must defend law, rights, order and dignity. Agreements based solely on promises unfortunately do not work. No legally binding treaty can guarantee peace without the power to punish its violation. The basic realities of power remain unchanged from ancient times, hardly evidence of humanity’s moral progress. Sadly, today’s most ardent pacifists usually live in stable countries whose security is guaranteed by powerful armed forces.
Most Christians in Ukraine today not only help war victims but also support the army. Many serve in Ukraine’s Armed Forces, not only as chaplains or medics but as soldiers. We are defending our country against an aggressor, and we have the moral right to do so.
Another question is Christians’ participation in their country’s life during a profound crisis. The departure of active Christians abroad is a major problem: for everyone who leaves, others must take on their work. We lack people who can serve as pastoral carers, congregational pastors or simply brothers and sisters ready to pray, comfort and support. For many, the war has tested the authenticity of faith.
Challenges for theology
Returning to existential resilience, we seek to understand whether people find support in faith in God. There is no single answer. Some seek and find him; others look for alternative supports and ways of overcoming fear and existential uncertainty. Our task, however, is to encourage people to seek answers in God. Often they do not seek him simply because they know nothing concrete about him.
Theodicy. Some have lost faith during the war; others have found it. This has always happened. Ukrainian wartime literature offers examples. The best-known is the young soldier and writer Artur Dron’s Hemingway Knows Nothing, already translated into several languages. It offers a fresh perspective on theodicy “from the trenches”. A chapter entitled “The Lord of the Trenches” says:
If a priest puts on camouflage, takes a worn old Bible instead of a rifle and travels under shellfire to pray with those who want to pray together, this says more about the Church than all the popes or patriarchs of Moscow.
If someone almost broken receives a letter with a child’s drawing and wipes away tears, so much of God is revealed within that person that it is hard to comprehend.
Yes, we believe the Lord can do everything and loves everyone. Yet he has not instantly ended this horror. Why?
I too want an answer. One day I will certainly ask him why, if he is so almighty, he did not stop the war himself. I will have many uncomfortable questions.
But I will certainly not ask where he was during the war. That I know. I saw and felt it. He was with us in every trench and under every bombardment.
Our Lord of the trenches, to whom we direct so many reproaches and questions. Under fire with us, exhausted with us.
Is religiosity increasing in Ukraine because of the war? No. It remains more or less stable. Yet we seek to bring the Gospel to people so that the number finding peace in Christ may grow rapidly.
The Church and politics
The Russian Orthodox Church’s open support for military aggression, particularly that of Patriarch Kirill, has become a major challenge. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Moscow Patriarchate’s branch in Ukraine, has adopted no resolution condemning this aggression. Moreover, almost all Christian denominations in Russia, except the Roman Catholic Church, have demonstrated loyalty to Putin’s policies and supported the invasion. As a result, many of our fellow citizens see Christianity as an ideological construction with a religious foundation. This is tragic.
The situation is somewhat counterbalanced by almost all Ukraine’s Christian denominations supporting their country’s defenders and actively helping civilians and soldiers. Four years of war have taught us the need to develop a theology of the Gospel’s presence in every sphere of public life.
Pastoral care
Although we face a critical shortage of genuine military chaplains ready to serve soldiers at the front and work with psychologically traumatised civilians, we have a developed and mature theology of pastoral care. Particularly noteworthy is Father Andrii Zelinskyi’s Care for the Soul, published in 2025, the first foundational theological study in this field. A Greek Catholic priest and practising chaplain since 2015, the author presents pastoral care’s theological foundations, traces its development from early Christianity to the present, and examines spiritual and psychological problems and possible responses.
Many denominational seminaries offer pastoral-care courses for clergy. We are sincerely grateful for support from brothers and sisters abroad. Courses range from basic training to academic university programmes, including the Ukrainian Catholic University’s master’s programme. State standards require appropriate qualifications for official military chaplaincy. Consequently, both volunteer chaplains and professional chaplains employed by Ukraine’s Armed Forces serve.
Public theology
During the years of full-scale war, we have sought ways to make theology visible, living and effective in public life, bringing hope and leading people to Christ. We have invented nothing fundamentally new; these approaches have been used before. We are trying different forms and directions. Sometimes forms of proclamation arise spontaneously in particular circumstances.
Our main conclusions:
- Theology cannot be regarded as a branch of the social sciences.
- It is not one among many ways of solving social problems.
- Theology is a path towards encountering Christ.
- The Gospel is not an alternative; it is humanity’s only possibility.
- The need for God must be awakened.
- Theology must be present in every public discourse.
- A biblical-theological approach is most effective.
The German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine
What has changed in our church community during four years of war?
We have learned to live under constant missile and drone attacks and organised our life and ministry across different fields, from helping internally displaced people and refugees to our first steps in pastoral care. Our congregations live and serve in cities heavily attacked by Russia, including Kharkiv, Shostka, Kyiv and Odesa. We have learned to find comfort in serving Christ through helping our neighbours, and discovered the meaning of genuine trust in God and the unity of Christ’s worldwide Church.
We have learned to thank God and our brothers and sisters in Christ across the world who support us through prayer and practical help. Experiencing the Church’s universal unity is a great grace.
Dmytro Tsolin
Pastor, German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine
Professor, Department of Biblical Studies, Ukrainian Catholic University
Lviv