Despite their claims of religiosity, Russian occupiers further commit atrocities and are not ashamed to loot churches and saw off crosses. In Melitopol, the occupiers mocked the Protestant church "New Generation" and searched the parishioners.
According to TSN, in March 2022, the Russians began to storm the church in the temporarily occupied Melitopol. Pastor Viktor Sergeyev and his son Mark spoke about the disaster that befell the church and the pressure on the church community.
Viktor Sergeyev is the senior pastor of the Protestant church "New Generation" and said that until February 24, his community was the largest in Melitopol. The parishioners of the church actively assisted the army and participated in pro-Ukrainian rallies.
In March 2022, the Russians began to storm the church. For this, they broke down the doors with a sledgehammer.
The pastor notes that after the storming of the church, the occupiers began to search the pastor's house and stole all the valuable items that caught their eye.
At the same time, searches were carried out in the neighboring house of Viktor's son Mark, who was responsible for patriotic education of children in the church.
Mark notes that while lying face down on the cold asphalt, he managed to say goodbye to life several times.
"I think... I'm sure that if I'm apprehended for patriotic movements... God, if they kill me now, I hope at least that the children won't see how their dad dies," emphasizes Mark.
Viktor Sergeyev also said that later the occupiers drove people to the church, where they questioned them about language, religion, and political preferences.
Viktor was questioned last. The occupiers demanded that the pastor declare, "Putin is our king and god."
The next day after the events, the occupiers arrested the mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov. They also planned to detain Viktor, but he was warned, and the family successfully left for free Ukraine.
Currently, it is known that the occupiers are using the premises of the church as the "Ministry of Youth Policy" of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia region.
The huge cross that stood at the entrance to the church - the occupiers sawed it off and replaced it with the Russian flag."