The letter signed by Senior Venerable Thích Đức Thiện, Deputy President cum General Secretary of the VBS’s Central Executive Council and Chairman of the VBS’s Central Committee for International Buddhist Affairs was sent to the Vietnamese Buddhist Association in Ukraine, Senior Venerable Quang Điền, Head of Truc Lam Kharkov pagoda, and other monks in the pagoda.

In the letter, Most Venerable Thích Đức Thiện sent his regards and prayers for peace to monks, lay Buddhists and the Vietnamese community in Ukraine in the context of the ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine over the previous days.

He also affirmed that the VBS would work closely with the State Committee on Overseas Vietnamese and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to launch practical activities to support the Vietnamese community in Ukraine, and the VBS’s Committee for International Buddhist Affairs would ask, the Vietnamese Buddhist Associations in European countries to receive and support the Vietnamese people moving from Ukraine.

Truc Lam Kharkov pagoda built in 2007 is the center of cultural, religious and spiritual activities of the Vietnamese community in Ukraine, while the Vietnamese Buddhist Association in Ukraine has been recognized as a branch of the VBS since September 2008.

NL