"Russian Federation has long turned religion into a tool for achieving its political and military goals," - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
“Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian occupiers have killed 67 ministers of various Ukrainian churches and religious organizations. Some of them were martyred in liturgical vestments. More than 630 places of worship in Ukraine - churches, mosques, synagogues, prayer houses - were destroyed or damaged by Russian shellings,” the commentary on the MFA website reads.
According to the Ministry, the Russian occupation administrations have launched a massive use of repressive practices against not only denominations and organizations prohibited by Russian law, such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Hizb ut-Tahrir, but also all other religious organizations not affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate. “All of this has led to a rapid curtailment of religious freedom in the non-government controlled areas of Ukraine.”
“Numerous Christian religious communities that remained in the temporarily occupied territories were forced by the Russian invaders to obey the de jure “religious” organization “Russian Orthodox Church”, which, as we all know, is de facto part of the Russian state. The criminal activities of the Russian Orthodox Church are openly aimed at appropriating or completely destroying Ukrainian statehood, culture, and identity. The ROC sanctifies atrocities against the Ukrainian people and praises Russian murderers. All of these are components of Russia's systematic use of religion as a weapon in its war of aggression against Ukraine,” the MFA's commentary says.
On December 26, 2022, the Russian occupation authorities in the temporarily occupied territories banned the activities of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. “This was accompanied by the forced deportation of clergy. In addition, other organizations were banned, including those engaged in social service and humanitarian support for people in the occupied and de-occupied territories. These are organizations such as the Knights of Columbus and the Caritas Charitable Foundation: “Caritas Canada, Caritas USA, Caritas Poland, Caritas Czech Republic, Caritas Donetsk and Caritas Melitopol.”
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “precedents of blatant violations of religious freedom, in particular the repressive policy of oppression of the rights of Ukrainian clergy and believers by the Russian occupiers in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, are recorded in numerous reports and monitoring materials of influential international organizations, in particular the concluding observations and recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee, as well as the annual reports on the state of religious freedom in the world of the US State Department, which has designated Russia a country of ”particular concern.”
The Russian Federation has long turned religion into a tool for achieving its political and military goals and is actively spreading the influence of the Moscow Patriarchate in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, in particular through the creation of so-called “religious centers”, which, like religion in general, are an instrument of the Kremlin's aggressive conquest policy. The occupation authorities continue to restrict the activities of all religious organizations that have an independent position or support the territorial integrity of Ukraine, grossly violating the rights of believers and the basic principles of freedom of conscience guaranteed by international law.”
In response, “the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine once again draws the attention of the international community to these blatant violations of human rights, in particular, the right to freedom of conscience in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation. Despite the military realities, Ukraine continues to make every effort to protect and promote religious freedom and strictly adheres to international law governing freedom of religion and belief.
We call on the international community to respond appropriately to the systematic violations of human rights in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, to strengthen sanctions against the Russian Federation, to increase pressure on the Russian authorities, to intensify efforts to bring to justice all those responsible for the crime of aggression, genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
We call on all international partners to actively support Ukraine's struggle for comprehensive, just and sustainable peace, restoration of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country, and restoration of the rule of law and human rights,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said in a statement.
