United States respond to the persecution of the OCU in the occupied Crimea

“We support the faithful of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Crimea, where Russian security forces disrupted a Sunday service in the Bilohorsky District on a fictitious pretext. We will always support religious freedom, free from external influences. Let people pray," the embassy stressed.

As previously reported, in occupied Crimea, Russian security forces disrupted service in the Church of the Crimean Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine has prepared another sanctions package against persons who persecute the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in the occupied Crimea.

The Orthodox Church Of Ukraine utterly condemns another gross violation by the Russian occupation authorities in Crimea of one of the fundamental human rights – the right to freedom of conscience and religion.

Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova called on the world to strengthen sanctions against Russia for disrupting the OCU service in Crimea by the invaders