Chaplains

Until recently, the Ukrainian Army had a recognizable corps of military chaplains, who wore military uniform with a clear mark of their religious function. But when I encountered an Orthodox chaplain the other day, he just looked like an ordinary soldier.

The reason is that he now is just an ordinary soldier. He has been ordered to put off his chaplaincy role,  and take up arms. I am told this is now the general situation, as the Army tries desperately to bolster numbers. It was already the case that military chaplains were few and far between – I hear, one per brigade – but what we see now is a drastic reduction of that previously sparse provision.

In the UK, our own army has provided some training to Ukrainian military chaplains, but in our local experience in the Donbas, there is little sign of it filtering down to grass-roots level. There is just too little spiritual and moral help for an exhausted and traumatised citizen army.

Apart from military chaplains, there also exist ‘Volunteer Chaplains’, who have no access to military formations but are permitted to work close to the front line, as well as in more distant parts of the country. My colleagues and I are part of this informal group. We wear our badges – ‘Volunteer’ (BOLOHTEP) and ‘Chaplain’ (KAPELAH) with pride.

Not so long ago, my colleagues ran open-air meetings for soldiers, who were given a good feed and the opportunity to pray together. Because of the very active drone war, this has become too dangerous, and a good pastoral care project - an instance of valuable volunteer activity - has had to be shelved. That means that we no longer have much quality time with soldiers.

80% of Ukrainian men still in the country are in the army. So, you might observe that the soldiers of the army and the menfolk of the country are substantially the same group. These men have families who have been without their father-figure and bread-winner for three years now. True, soldiers get paid, and are expected to send some of their pay home. If they are killed, a pension is provided for the family. But if they are missing in action, the pay is cut off until the missing person or his body is found. If they are injured and taken to hospital, their pay is reduced until they are fit for active service again.

It will be obvious to you that wives and families are vulnerable to hardship in several aspects of this situation.  Firstly, there is the general economic enfeeblement that is inevitable in wartime, and is suffered by most. But heaped on top of this are more specific afflictions: loneliness, fear and loss of confidence, lack of income, absence of a male role model.

Ukraine Chain has been working with the community at Ciudei, in SW Ukraine, since the early days of the war. Like everywhere else in Ukraine, Ciudei sends its men to the war, and the families are left behind. We would like to provide some support for them in the coming year.