Pope Francis recalled the war in Ukraine during the weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall, Vatican News reports.
The Pontiff compared it to "Operation Reinhardt" - the extermination of Polish Jews by the Nazis during World War II between 1942 and 1943.
“May the memory of this horrible event arouse resolutions and actions for peace in all,” the pontiff said, calling this operation "extermination".
Then the Pope added: “History repeats itself today. Now we see what is happening in Ukraine.”
Pope Francis urged the faithful to pray the Mother of God to comfort all those who suffered from the " brutality of war", and especially for "tormented Ukraine".
On 7 December, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyy met with Pope Francis in the Vatican. Sadovyy presented the pontiff with a wooden cross with a fragment of a Russian missile, which had been pulled out of 13-year-old Nastya.