Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, warned his compatriots against hatred toward Russians.

“Love of homeland can give birth to heroes who are capable of defeating an enemy,” he said on March 14. “When we hate, we are already defeated by our enemy.”

“We all need to do everything possible to stop this insanity now,” he added. Afterwards, we will … judge the criminals who led up to this.”