The Russian Federation and the Kremlin-affiliated Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) systematically violate international humanitarian law in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Official Kyiv once again calls on the international community to strengthen sanctions against religious structures that support the war and to continue pressure on Russia. This is stated in the commentary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the systematic violations of international humanitarian law by the Russian Federation and the Russian Orthodox Church in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, UNN reports.
On the eve of the U.S. Prayer Breakfast, which is an important platform for discussing human rights, religious freedom and interreligious dialogue, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine once again draws the attention of the international community to serious violations of the rights to freedom of religion and religious activity in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The Russian Federation and the Kremlin-affiliated Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) systematically violate international humanitarian law in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of Ukraine. Under their patronage, these territories are subject to the forced subjugation of religious communities, repression of religious leaders and believers, destruction of independent religious structures and propaganda of the ideas of the "Russian world"
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the Russian Federation and the Russian Orthodox Church are pursuing a policy of exterminating religious diversity in the territories not controlled by the Government of Ukraine. The clergy and believers of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Protestant, Catholic and Muslim communities are being repressed. In Crimea, all OCU communities have been liquidated and their churches seized. Priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) who do not support the occupation authorities are also being persecuted. Criminal cases are opened against them, searches are carried out, and they are intimidated.
"Crimean Muslims - representatives of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars - are being persecuted because of their religious and national identity. The joint prayer of Muslims in Crimea is a pretext for the occupier to repress them. Russian security forces conduct searches in the homes of Crimean Tatars and in the religious communities of Jehovah's Witnesses. Protestant churches are being confiscated and turned into administrative or "cultural" institutions.
It will be a year soon since the Russian occupiers in the Kherson region tortured to death a priest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Father Stepan Podolchak. He was killed for refusing to transfer to the "jurisdiction" of the Moscow church, which blesses Russian soldiers to kill in Ukraine.
Since 2014, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) has regularly documented the impact of the illegal actions of the occupation authorities in Crimea on the faithful and clergy of various religious communities. The 40th periodic report of the HRMMU cites the facts of the demolition of the last church of the OCU in Crimea in June 2024 by the occupation authorities on the basis of the decision of the so-called "Yevpatoria City Court", adopted in 2019.
The 41st report of the mission documented cases of torture and ill-treatment of Greek Catholic priests who have been imprisoned by the Russian occupation authorities in detention centers in the occupied territory of Donetsk region since November 2022. In December 2024, the HRMMU noted that representatives of various religious communities continue to be subjected to criminal prosecution and harsh prison sentences by the occupation courts in cases related to their religious activities.
The European Court of Human Rights has recognized that the Russian Federation systematically violates freedom of religion, persecutes religious minorities and confiscates religious objects. The European Parliament in its resolution 2024/2988 (RSP) condemned the use of the Orthodox religion as an instrument of political influence by the Russian Federation. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in its resolution 2567 (2024) condemned the actions of the Russian Federation and its propaganda campaign aimed at justifying military aggression.
The UN General Assembly in its resolution 79/184 "Situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol" condemned the violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by the occupying authorities, in particular the ongoing threats, persecution and pressure on religious minorities and communities in the TOT of Ukraine.
The Russian Orthodox Church is an active participant in the implementation of the Kremlin's aggressive policy. Its functionaries are conducting ideological work to destroy the Ukrainian national identity. In schools on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, a course "Spiritual and moral foundations of Russian culture" has been introduced, and mandatory meetings of Russian Orthodox Church priests with young people are held, during which Russian identity and disregard for Ukrainian culture are imposed.
In the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia region, priests of the Russian Orthodox Church distribute literature that promotes service in the Russian army, justifies the occupation and denies the existence of the Ukrainian nation. In occupied Melitopol, children's paramilitary organizations with the participation of representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church have been created.
rcc seizes ukrainian churches. Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, 8 dioceses of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which have more than 1600 parishes and 23 monasteries, have been forcibly incorporated into the Russian Orthodox Church. The Cathedral of Saints Prince Volodymyr and Princess Olga of the OCU in Simferopol was seized, and the last church of the OCU in Crimea, the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, was dismantled.
The Russian Orthodox Church supports Russian aggression, blesses the military, and supplies humanitarian aid to the Russian army. The priests of this church participate in mobilization events, actively promote participation in the war, and organize fundraisers for the needs of the occupation forces.
According to Ukrainian special services, more than 1,300 Russian Orthodox Church priests have been sent to the frontline, where they act as chaplains or representatives of Russian special services. SBU exposes facts of supplying attack drones to Russian troops through the "Crimean Metropolis" of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Russia continues to use religion as an instrument of political propaganda and control over people living in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine," the commentary reads.
Ukraine once again calls on the international community to strengthen sanctions against religious structures that support the war and to continue pressure on Russia to stop the persecution of religious communities in the occupied territories, the Foreign Ministry summarized.