On August 25, 2022, it became known that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine invited the Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, to inform him of Ukraine’s disappointment regarding the statement of the Pope of Rome about the death of a Russian woman Darya Dugina on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
“Visvaldas Kulbokas was told that Ukraine is deeply disappointed by the pontiff’s words, which unfairly equate the aggressor and the victim. At the same time, the decision of Pope Francis to mention in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the death of a Russian citizen on the territory of Russia, with which Ukraine has nothing to do, causes misunderstanding,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said at a press conference with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio in Kyiv on August 25, 2022, that “Ukraine’s heart is breaking from the pope’s words – it was unfair.”
He called the Nuncio’s invitation to the ministry a “quite unprecedented” case.
“Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, the pontiff has never paid special attention to the specific victims of the war, including 376 Ukrainian children who died at the hands of the Russian invaders.”
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry expressed hope that “in the future, the Holy See will avoid unfair statements that cause disappointment in Ukrainian society.”
Uaposition memo: On August 24, during the general audience on the Independence Day of Ukraine, Pope Francis mentioned in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the death of the daughter of one of the ideologues of the “Russian peace” Oleksandr Dugin, Darya Dugina. The pontiff said the following: “I have in mind the poor girl who was blown up in Moscow by a bomb planted under the car seat. The innocent pay for the war, the innocent! Let’s think about this reality and say to each other: war is madness.”
On the evening of August 20, the car of Oleksandr Dugin’s daughter Darya Dugina blew up in the Russian suburbs. The Federal Security Service blamed Ukraine for this and found a potential suspect. Official Kyiv said it had nothing to do with the incident.
