On August 8, Russian "Security Forces of the Center for Combating Extremism" broke into the Church of the Crimean Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the village of Balky in the occupied Crimea and forced to stop the morning service.
This was reported by the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova in Telegram, Espresso reports.
"The security forces compelled the rector archimandrite Damian to stop the morning service. They reported that the priest allegedly performed the prayer not in accordance with Russian law and began to draw up a protocol," she wrote.
Denisova stressed that the persecution of members of religious organizations in Crimea is a gross violation of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
"I call on the international community to increase diplomatic and sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation and condemn actions that violate the rights of the community of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Crimea," the commissioner concluded.