Pope Francis called on Wednesday August 24 to “
avert the risk of a nuclear disaster
” in Ukraine six months after the start of the Russian invasion, once again denouncing the “
madness of war
”.
“
For six months today, the Ukrainian people have been suffering from the horror of war
,” the pope said, asking “
that concrete steps be taken to end the war and avert the risk of a nuclear disaster in Zaporizhia
”.
“War is madness”
Several countries have expressed their fears of a disaster in the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, occupied since the beginning of March by the Russian army in the south of the country and the target of recurrent bombardments.
“
I am thinking of all this cruelty, of all these innocent people who pay for the madness of all parties, because war is madness
,” said the Argentine sovereign pontiff after his weekly general audience at the Vatican.
"
I think of this unfortunate young woman who died because of a bomb under the seat of her car in Moscow
," he added, referring to Daria Douguina, a 29-year-old journalist and political scientist and daughter of a ultranationalist philosopher and writer, killed on Saturday in the explosion of the vehicle she was driving.
“
I carry the prisoners in my heart, especially those who are in a fragile state, and I ask the responsible authorities to take measures for their release
,” he continued.
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“
I think of the children.
So many dead, and so many refugees.
So many injured.
So many Ukrainian and Russian children have become orphans.
Orphans have no nationality: they have lost a father or a mother, whether Russian or Ukrainian
”.
"
Those who profit from war (...) are criminals who murder humanity
", concluded the pope.
