DESS states RF is deliberately destroying UOC temples

Photo: In Toretsk, the Makaryevsky Church of the UOC is being destroyed by Russian shelling. Source: NV

The largest number of damaged temples belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Vyacheslav Horshkov, head of the Department for Religious Affairs at the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), believes that the Russian Federation is deliberately destroying religious buildings.

"For example, if a shell accidentally hits a church near the line of conflict—that's one thing, but we are witnessing deliberate destruction of religious buildings, even those belonging to a church that Russia supposedly considers friendly to itself, because the largest number of damaged temples are those of the Orthodox Church," said the DESS official in a comment to suspilne.media.

He also emphasized that international humanitarian law clearly defines the deliberate destruction of religious buildings as a crime.

As reported, on 19 July 2024, the Assumption Church of the UOC was damaged by shelling in Hrodivka.

In Kyiv, on the night of 16-17 May, the church of the Tithe Monastery of the UOC was demolished. Earlier, on 6 April 2023, Lviv authorities used an excavator to demolish the last UOC temple in the city.

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