Since the start of the war in 2022, Russian soldiers have killed nearly 50 priests and destroyed or damaged 630 churches, says Mykhailo Podoliak, an advisor to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
Podoliak states that Ukraine has recorded mass repressions against religious communities in territories temporarily occupied by Russia.
For instance, in Donbas, Protestant churches have been transformed into ammunition depots, while priests have been tortured and executed. Pro-Ukrainian Orthodox clergymen have been kidnapped and coerced into confessing to espionage.
Podoliak notes that the Russians have conducted searches in mosques, initiated criminal cases for possessing religious literature, and intimidated imams as tools of control.
Over the past three years, the invaders have killed about fifty pastors and destroyed or damaged 630 churches in Ukraine.
“More than 70% of Ukrainians consider themselves believers. Thus, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are fighting not only for freedom, our homes, and our families, but also for religious freedom. Our resistance preserves the opportunity for priests to hold services openly and for parishioners to seek God without fear. How can we surrender our territories if it means also renouncing our faith?” Podoliak emphasized.
Zelenskyy’s top adviser added that “it is clear” that the Russian Orthodox Church itself is not about faith or God but solely about justifying violence, mass killings, and genocide.
On 25 September, Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill de-facto blessed Russian soldiers to die in Ukraine, promising them forgiveness of sins in his Sunday sermon.
Reiterating the Kremlin’s imperial myth of Ukraine and Russia as “fraternal nations” and labeling the Russian invasion of Ukraine “internecine warfare” happening “on the vast expanses of [the medieval kingdom of Kyivan] Rus,” he assured Russian soldiers that it is their “military duty” to occupy a sovereign state and in the (probable) event that they would be killed, they would “undoubtedly” commit an act of “sacrifice” that “washes away all sins.”
Related:
- How the Russian Orthodox Church enabled Putin’s war against Ukraine
- Russian World: the heresy driving Putin’s war
- Moscow Patriarchate tells Russian troops: “Your task is to wipe the Ukrainian nation off the face of the earth”
- Leaders of Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine shifting allegiance to Kyiv
- Tomos ante portas: a short guide to Ukrainian church independence
