Russia continues to persecute religious minorities, especially religious communities of Evangelical Christians in the occupied regions of Kherson Oblast of Ukraine as part of a broader campaign in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) aimed at destroying independent Ukrainian national and religious identity. This is reported in a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), reports UNN.
Details
It is noted that the other day the Center for National Resistance (CNS) reported that in the Kherson region, Russian occupation officials are forcibly converting and reconsecrating Ukrainian churches to the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (ROC MP).
The CNS reported that priests of the ROC MP are watching as Russian occupation officials torture Ukrainian Protestant believers and force Ukrainian children to pray for the "Russian world" - a Kremlin-promoted geopolitical concept with amorphous parameters that broadly encompasses the Russian language, culture, Orthodoxy, and media
ISW has previously reported on religious oppression by Russia in the TOT, including arbitrary detentions and killings of Ukrainian clergy and religious leaders, as well as looting, desecration, and deliberate destruction of places of worship.
"There have also been reports of systematic repression by Russia of Ukrainian Orthodox communities and other religious minorities, including Ukrainian Protestants and Baptists, who have suffered Russian brutality and other repression in southern Ukraine," the analysts summarize.
Recall
In the temporarily occupied Melitopol, the Russians introduced compulsory military training for all high school students. According to the Center for National Resistance, it is impossible to obtain a certificate without completing the course. This applies to both boys and girls.