Community members gathered last night at St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Riverhead for a solemn service marking the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The war that was triggered by the invasion grinds on.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, fighting and air strikes since Feb. 24, 2022 have inflicted nearly 56,000 civilian casualties, while 3.7 million people are internally displaced, 5.9 million are registered as refugees and 10.8 million people need humanitarian assistance.
Russia still occupies roughly 20 percent of the country after gaining about 1,930 square miles of territory in 2025, a Council on Foreign Relations report says. Russia continues to bombard Ukrainian cities, while Ukraine maintains drone attacks on Russian oil infrastructure and military sites.
For Ukrainian-American parishioners of the Riverhead church, the war brutalizing their ancestral land is very personal. Some who worship there are refugees of the war. Many have family members living there who are directly affected by the war. Among them is Pastor Bohdan Hedz. He is an immigrant, with family in Ukraine, including his mother.
It’s a constant source of worry, the pastor acknowledges. Overall, he said after last night’s service, she is doing all right. “She’s been without electricity for 18 hours,” he said. For his mother, that means no heat on a cold winter night.
Hedz said his wife’s family was less fortunate. They saw their home destroyed by Russian firepower. “They say they’re attacking only military targets. But that’s not true,” Hedz said.
The small church sanctuary was crowded for a candlelight memorial service last night, a service Hedz has held annually since 2023. The pastor chanted and prayed aloud in both Ukrainian and English. The air was thick with incense and burning candles.
“I welcome you to this memorial service commemorating the fourth year of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.”
“But as I always remind myself and everybody around me, truly, this year marks the 12 anniversary of war that Russia is waging against Ukraine,” Hedz said, referring to the outbreak of armed conflict in eastern Ukraine that erupted in early 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
He spoke directly to community members from outside his church who attended the service, singling out Riverhead Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin, whom Hedz called a “vocal supporter.” Hedz thanked the town government for its support and the larger community for its support.
“I want to express my gratitude on behalf of our Ukrainian community for your open hearts, for your sincere help that you still provide,” Hedz said. “You have not grown idle. You have not grown disinterested over the years. It’s so easy when we fall prey to the media and follow the media train. It’s so easy to switch our attention to something different.”
Hedz then read aloud a letter issued by the Ukrainian Catholic bishops of the United States on the eve of the anniversary. He read it first in English, then in Ukrainian.
“What can be said on the fourth anniversary of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, after 12 years of war, in a winter where the aggressor seeks to use Mother Nature as an accomplice in state-sponsored terrorism,” the letter began.
“This winter, the harshest in years, has been deliberately exploited to break the spirit of a nation—men and women, military and civilians, grandparents, parents, and children—standing for freedom, justice, democracy, and God-given human dignity.” they wrote. “It is a war against the people. The genocidal intent is manifest.”
“Russia has systematically targeted Ukraine’s social and spiritual infrastructure. At least 2,881 attacks on healthcare have been documented, affecting medical personnel, hospitals and clinics, ambulances, and medical warehouses across the country. 4,048 educational institutions have been damaged and 408 destroyed, affecting millions of children,” the bishops wrote.
“More than 600 churches and places of worship, representing various denominations, have been damaged or leveled. Everywhere Russian occupation has taken hold, the Ukrainian Catholic Church has been banned, and all religious confessions except the Moscow Patriarchate are persecuted.
“Tens of thousands of children have been abducted and deported to Russia. Civilian prisoners, including clergy, are mercilessly tortured.
“Despite countless deaths and millions of casualties, the people of God resist, trust, and pray. They stand and fight evil and tyranny to live and witness to the truth.
“In a world that Pope Benedict described as living under the dictatorship of relativism, where seemingly everything is up for sale and relationships or principles are reduced to deals or transactions, Ukrainians assert: this is not the will of God! There is a difference between good and evil, between truth and lies. For this difference they are sacrificing their lives in behalf of all of humanity.
“Despite it all, they live with gratitude. First, to God. And to all people who help. They thank Americans and all people of goodwill throughout the world for their prayers.
“Prayers move mountains. We may not know the name of the person whose life was saved because of our prayer, but people in Ukraine call out: ‘Thank you for praying.’
“They are grateful to all who stay informed, who counter disinformation, and who advocate for justice, a truly just peace,” the bishops wrote.
“Ukrainians also thank all who stand in partnership with them, because the help offered is not charity to the poor or a handout to the desperate. It is solidarity — true partnership with those who are paying the ultimate price for global freedom, for global human dignity, for global justice.
“On behalf of Ukrainians in Ukraine and Ukrainian Catholics in the United States, we thank you for praying, for staying informed and advocating, and for your partnership.
“In their name, we ask that you continue until God’s truth prevails.
“It will.
“Our faith and our hope are in the Lord. Praised be His holy name.”
St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Riverhead continues to accept donations of humanitarian aid to ship to Ukraine and to fundraise to aid war victims and the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. For information about the church’s ongoing efforts and information on how to help, visit the church’s Facebook page.
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