Occupants have damaged more than 600 churches and religious buildings since the beginning of the full-scale invasion
Kyiv • UNN
At least 630 religious sites, including churches, temples, synagogues, and mosques, have been destroyed or damaged by Russian shelling and looting since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Religious sites were damaged by Russian shelling with missiles, kamikaze drones and artillery. In addition, the Russian invaders looted churches and houses of worship, some of which were converted into "administrative buildings" by the occupation "authorities," UNN reports , citing a study by the Institute for Religious Freedom.
Details
In the report "The Impact of the Russian Invasion on Religious Communities in Ukraine," the Institute for Religious Freedom released new data on the effects of Russian aggression on churches, churches and religious buildings.
In total, at least 630 religious sites were destroyed or damaged .
Most churches, houses of worship, synagogues and mosques were destroyed in Donetsk region - at least 146 buildings.
There are about 83in Luhansk region;
In Kherson region - at least 78.
The report indicates that the Kyiv region has suffered the consequences of the invaders' actions, which led to the destruction or damage to 73 religious sites.
The number of destroyed buildings is increasing in Kharkiv region (at least 62), Zaporizhzhia (at least 51) and Mykolaiv region (at least 41).
On a confessional basis, most Orthodox churches suffered from Russian aggression - a total of at least 246. Of these, most belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate - at least 187. In addition, 59 churchesof the Orthodox Church of Ukraine were destroyed or damaged.
There have also been documented cases of looting of prayer houses of evangelical churches - at least 206 in total, of which the most affected were
churches of Christians of Evangelical Faith - 94;
prayer houses of Evangelical Baptist Christians - 60;
buildings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church - 27.
Recall
Russian invaders in occupied Mariupol are using excavators to destroy the Did mound, a historical monument dating back to the 5th millennium BC.
The Netherlands has returned to Ukraine eight archaeological artifactsthat were illegally exported from Ukrainian territory.
