Fifteen days visiting cities plunged into darkness and “islands of resilience”: Brother Benoit tells SIR about a Ukraine that is wounded but not defeated. Young people showing solidarity, committed churches, families suffering from Russian attacks. Amid the cold and fear, hope becomes a daily choice and a tangible sign of freedom.

“We told the young people we met: ‘We have no message to convey to you, except that of our spiritual solidarity through prayer and our presence. It is they, and all the people we met, who have been a message to us!’” Brothers Benoît and Andreas, from the Taizé Community, have returned from a two-week stay in Ukraine. The SIR news agency reached them by phone so they could tell us about their trip, which took them to the cities of Lviv, Ternopil, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Zaporizhia, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Kolomyia. They met with leaders from all the Churches—Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Latin, and Protestant. This trip followed another visit that the prior of the Taizé community, Brother Matthew, accompanied by Brother Francis, had made in December, on the eve of the European meeting in Paris that brought together 15,000 young people from all over Europe, including a thousand from Ukraine. “Upon returning from that visit,” recalls Brother Benoît, “our prior, Brother Matthew, emphasized how much these people had become for him living signs that light can truly shine in the darkness and that the darkness had not succeeded in extinguishing it.”

What situation did you find in Ukraine?

January and February were very difficult months for the Ukrainian people, as Russian attacks on infrastructure and the energy grid were particularly intense. For several weeks, power outages lasted for long periods in various cities. In Kyiv, for example, entire neighborhoods were without electricity for several consecutive days. The winter was very difficult, even harsher than the other winters during these recent years of war. Yet, despite the freezing temperatures, the lack of heating, and the relentless attacks, you can also see signs of courage and hope.  In every city, there are true “islands of resilience”: places where people can go to charge their cell phones and find a warm space. These centers are present in every city and are supported by the Caritas and Caritas Spes networks, as well as by various other networks and organizations that collaborate with one another. In Kyiv, at the Pallottine Fathers’ parish, a center of this kind has been opened on the parish premises under the name “Place of Warmth and Hope.” In the adjacent room, a laundry facility has been set up with the support of the Taizé solidarity fund, Operation Hope. We were able to see all of these initiatives at first hand.

Who are the people most affected by this situation?

First and foremost, I would say the elderly and people with disabilities. In Kharkiv, we visited a wonderful initiative for the blind. It is a project led by an Orthodox priest—who is blind himself—who has created a path to social inclusion for veterans as well as civilians. I’m also thinking of the children. First and foremost are the war orphans—those who have lost a father, a brother, or a family member. And for all of them, every day, the air raid sirens sound and they must take shelter in bunkers, which leaves a deep mark. Many children suffer because of the war; perhaps not all of them so directly, but it is clear that for many of them, there will be a wound, an inner trauma, that will take a long time to heal.

You are a community particularly close to young people. In what situation did you find them? Are they still able to imagine a future?

I must say I was very surprised: in every city we visited—for example, Lviv, Ternopil, Kyiv, Poltava, and even Zaporizhzhia—we met young people who were certainly weary, but determined to go forward. Many of them are taking initiatives of solidarity: they support the soldiers on the front lines and are also getting involved in the life of their society and helping the most vulnerable. For me, this is a very powerful message: these young people are not only living in a very difficult situation because of the war, but they are also managing to do extraordinary things for others. We met people from the eastern part of the country, for example from the Donbas, who, after having suffered so much, have now become signs of hope for those around them. It is truly moving to see how these people, who have endured so much suffering, nevertheless manage to take on responsibilities toward others. It is a sign of the future—a future of peace, but a peace that is also justice and freedom. For speaking of peace is not simple. It is not easy to imagine a future of peace while attacks continue every day.

Ukrainians are incredibly resilient. But how is it possible, in a war that has lasted for four years, not to give in to despair?

Yes, it’s true: Ukrainians demonstrate a resilience that commands admiration. During this journey of solidarity to Ukraine, the two of us were deeply moved by the inner strength that so many people possess, despite the hardships accumulated over four years of war. Many families are mourning the loss of a loved one... .Yet, in Ukraine, every time I go there, I also see that hope is neither a naive sentiment nor a denial of suffering. It is a daily choice, born of concrete solidarity, of mutual support among friends and neighbors, of shared prayer, and of the conviction that freedom and human dignity will ultimately prevail over violence. This hope is also nourished by the certainty that we are not forgotten: a brotherly presence, however simple, is already a light. In this regard I recall the moving testimony, on the last evening of our European meeting in Paris, of a young Ukrainian woman, Sofiia, who addressed all the young people present during the prayer together. She concluded with these words: “Thanks to all of you, we feel seen and heard; your support helps us cling to the light of faith.”