Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, described the Russian annexation of four Ukrainian regions as “an unprecedented event in the history of modern mankind—shameless theft at the state level.”

The Major Archbishop continued, “The Lord God commanded man: ‘do not steal! When theft becomes the policy of some state, moreover, it is presented as a great victory. Such a state and such a policy, according to the words of Saint Pope John Paul II, become structures of sin.”