Religious conflicts are absent in Ukraine-controlled territories of Donbas, while only UOC (MP) is tolerated in occupied areas

In Donetsk region there are no religious conflicts there, the only such incident occurred in Konstyantynivka. This was reported on air of Radio Liberty project Donbas.Realiyi program by Oleksandr Melanchenko, Director of the Department for Internal Policy of Donetsk regional military-civilian administration.

He said the dispute arose based on the fact that one of the churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) moved under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate.

“In my opinion, this is a dispute over property: the Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is encroaching on buildings, land and equipment. That is all. However, the issue was resolved peacefully enough,” he said.

The representative of Donetsk Administration emphasizes that in other regions of Donetsk there were no religious conflicts in the territories controlled by Ukraine, no one restricts people's right to freedom of religion.

According to Melanchenko, the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas adopted their own “constitution,” which provide for the existence of one Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Donbas.Realiyi has repeatedly reported persecution of Protestants and Orthodox of the Kyiv Patriarchate in Donetsk and Luhansk, which are now controlled by pro-Russian militants.

The fighting in eastern Ukraine has lasted since April 2014. A part of Donetsk and Luhansk regions was seized with the support of the armed forces of pro-Russian separatists from the armed groups entitled DPR and LPR.