Massive attack on Ukraine. Caritas is already helping the victims

"We see that it was not an attack against the army (...) but a war against civilians" - said Father Taras Zheplinskyi, describing the shelling carried out by Russia in Ukraine during the night and morning. Mila Leonova from Caritas Ukraina emphasized, "Caritas teams are safe and have already started working for those in need".

More than 110 missiles and almost 30 drones attempted to target hospitals, schools, parking lots, shopping malls, and apartments from Lviv to Kharkiv, from the capital to the Dnipro. Although most were intercepted by air defense forces, the attackers led to the death of at least 16 people, and this number is still growing.

Official data also indicates about 120 injuries, with many buildings damaged. Father Taras mentioned that the first thing people think about in such moments is to contact their loved ones to check if they are okay.

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"Caritas teams are safe and have already started working for those in need"

Mila Leonova, who lives in Dnipro and is responsible for external relations at the Greek Catholic Caritas Ukraine, also spoke to Vatican Radio about the tragedy. She admitted feeling a bit tired, especially after last night and this morning.

"Now, thank God, our Caritas teams are safe and have already started working for those in need" - she emphasized. The focus is initially on providing psychological support, financial assistance, and registering damage to later aid in its reconstruction.

Mila Leonova also pointed out that, unfortunately, Ukrainians are somewhat accustomed to similar events, although they have not yet experienced such a massive attack in this war.

In fact, they expect similar shelling in the winter because last year showed them "that it is possible and that the attackers want to hit the energy infrastructure as widely as possible," she said. As she added, today was received without any major surprise. "It's a great pity that this is happening, and of course, we want it to end, but they see it in a completely different way, wanting to intimidate people more and more and destroy them," said an employee of the local Caritas to Vatican Radio.