Russia continues torturing priests and destroying Ukrainian churches - IRS report

These new data were published in a report titled "The Impact of Russian Invasion on Religious Communities in Ukraine" by the Institute for Religious Freedom (IRS).

The IRS research contains the results of monitoring and surveys on the situation of Ukrainian religious communities in the territories occupied by Russia.

It is noted that communities of Evangelical Protestant Churches (Baptists, Pentecostals, Adventists, etc.), as well as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, were particularly affected by Russian repression.

In addition, the occupying authorities declared believers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and Jehovah's Witnesses "enemies of the people" and "extremists." This made it impossible for religious minorities to carry out any activities in these Russia-controlled territories, and their property was illegally confiscated.

Religious communities on the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, occupied by Russia since 2014, also suffered targeted repression. In particular, many representatives of Muslim communities among pro-Ukrainian Crimean Tatars, as well as Jehovah's Witnesses, were sentenced to long prison terms on fabricated charges of extremism.

In 2023, the scale of destruction of religious structures in southern regions of Ukraine significantly increased. A number of churches were flooded as a result of the Russian army blowing up the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station on June 6, 2023, which is a separate war crime and potentially an act of ecocide. In addition, Russia continues to shell civilian infrastructure with missiles and kamikaze drones in almost all regions of Ukraine, causing damage to religious structures even in remote western regions of the country.

Orthodox churches suffered the most from Russian aggression by confession - a total of at least 246. Of these, the majority of churches belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate - at least 187.

59 churches of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine were also destroyed.

The scale of destruction and looting of Evangelical churches is significant - a total of at least 206. Of these, churches of Evangelical Christian faith suffered the most – 94 prayer houses, 60 prayer houses of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, as well as 27 structures of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The report in Ukrainian: https://bit.ly/2024-IRF-Report-Ukraine-ua

The report in English: https://bit.ly/2024-IRF-Report-Ukraine-en