Viktor Yelensky: Russians destroyed 630 religious buildings in Ukraine and killed more than 40 priests

Viktor Yelensky, the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (SEFC), stated this during a press conference at Ukrinform.
“During this war, more than 40 priests and pastors were killed, and 630 religious buildings were destroyed or damaged. Cases of abduction of clergy have also been recorded, such as in the Kherson region, where on February 14, a priest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Stepan Podolchak, was abducted,” Yelensky said.
He noted that Russia is one of the countries where religious freedoms are most severely restricted, and what is happening in the occupied territories is not subject to any legal definition at all.
According to the head of the SEFC, the Russian Orthodox Church actively persecutes religious organizations that are not subject to its jurisdiction.
“When the Russian Federation declares its desire to protect the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, it should be protected from Russia in the first place. During the war, 14 priests of this Church were killed, more than 100 churches were destroyed, and almost 200 were damaged,” Yelensky said.
He also noted that in August, a law was passed to stop the activities of religious organizations affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine. As the Russian Orthodox Church has explicitly declared its participation in the war against Ukraine, this law is aimed at protecting Ukrainian identity and statehood from the influence of said Church.
As reported previously, on August 20, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Law No. 8371 on the prohibition of religious organizations affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church.
According to the SBU press service, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, criminal proceedings have been opened against more than 100 clergy of the UOC-MP, almost 50 of them have already been notified of suspicion, and 26 have received court sentences.