Kirklees Faith Network: 'Our hearts are with the Ukrainian people'

A spokesman said: “Our hearts are with the Ukrainian people during what will be a very difficult time for them.

"It is apparent from the scenes on our television screens that the citizens of Ukraine are once again caught up in a military onslaught not of their making.

"It was the Ukraine which, at the time as a former Soviet Union state, also had to bear the brunt of a massive Nazi German invasion in June 1941 just as this area was recovering from the effects of a horrific famine that in itself killed an estimated 30 million people.

“Placing politics to one side, we pray the bloodshed will end quickly and soon because it is always the civilian population - especially the vulnerable, elderly and children - who will be suffering.

“The country of Ukraine has always had a rich and colourful history. Its citizens are deeply proud of their traditions.

"The nation even had a former Soviet president in the Kremlin - Nikita Khrushchev - who succeeded the brutal tyrant Joseph Stalin.

"Khrushchev, despite his own personal characteristic faults, did do much to dismantle the repression on the Soviet population that had built up during Stalin’s time.

“The Kirklees Faith Network of Mosques prays the conflict in Ukraine, along with the suffering of its people, will end quickly with a negotiated truce.”