As a result of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, at least 494 religious buildings, theological institutions, and sacred places were wholly destroyed, damaged, or looted by the Russian military.
The Ukrainian Institute for Religious Freedom presented this updated data on the impact of the war on Ukrainian religious communities on January 31 and February 1 during the Summit on International Religious Freedom (IRF Summit 2023) held in Washington, D.C.
According to the IRF Ukraine, since the presentation at last year's IRF Summit, in July 2022, the number of religious infrastructure facilities in Ukraine affected by Russian aggression has more than doubled.
Most churches, mosques, and synagogues were destroyed in the Donetsk region (at least 120) and Luhansk region (more than 70). The scale of destruction is also enormous in the Kyiv region (70), where desperate battles were fought in defense of the capital, and in the Kharkiv region – more than 50 destroyed religious buildings. Russian air raids, including those using Iranian drones, have affected almost all regions of Ukraine and continue to this day.
The Institute for Religious Freedom also documented many cases of the seizure of religious buildings in Ukraine and their further use as Russian military bases or to conceal the firing positions of Russian troops. This tactic of the Russian military provokes an increase in the scale of destruction of religious sites in Ukraine.
Churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate) suffered the most from Russian aggression – at least 143 were destroyed.
The scale of destruction of evangelical church prayer houses is immense – at least 170 in total, of which most affected were Evangelical Christian churches—75; Evangelical Baptist Christian prayer houses—49; and Seventh-day Adventist churches—24.
The updated IRF data now contains information on the destruction of the Kingdom Halls of Jehovah's Witnesses—a total of 94 religious buildings, of which seven were utterly destroyed, 17 were severely damaged, and 70 were insignificantly damaged.
The Institute for Religious Freedom also documented targeted attacks on religious figures and believers by the Russian military and intelligence services, primarily in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
In his speech at the summit, IRF executive director Dr. Maksym Vasin stated that believers and clergy often became targets for the Russian occupation authorities because of the Ukrainian language, belonging to a different denomination than the orthodoxy of the Moscow Patriarchate, or for any other manifestation of Ukrainian identity.
During the Russian occupation, believers of evangelical churches in Ukraine (Pentecostals, Baptists, Adventists, Charismatics, etc.) were particularly affected. Russian soldiers repeatedly threatened the total physical destruction of all evangelical believers, calling them "American spies," "sectarians," and "enemies of the Russian Orthodox people."
Valentyn Syniy, the rector of the Tavriski Christian Institute, which was entirely destroyed by the Russian military, testified on this at the IRF Summit 2023 in Washington, D.C.
Dmitry Bodyu, a pastor of the Word of Life Church in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, shared his personal story of Russian captivity with the IRF Summit participants. The Russian military seized the church building, and he was imprisoned and told that he would soon be killed. The pastor was able to escape from a Russian prison and evacuate, but for local evangelical believers under Russian occupation, a deadly threat remains.
Also, pastor Bodyu mentioned in his speech that the Russian occupation authorities illegally imprisoned two Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church clergymen in Berdiansk, in the Zaporizhzhia region. They are Ivan Levitskyi and Bohdan Geleta, who have been in prison for more than three months and are tortured and charged arbitrarily with terrorism and assistance.
During the IRF Summit, a separate panel discussion dedicated to Ukraine was held, which was also attended by the first deputy chairman of the All-Ukrainian Union of the Churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists. Igor Bandura, first deputy senior bishop of the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church; Anatoliy Kozachok, president of the Union of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, Oleksandr Yazlovetskiy, Archpriest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Father Andrii Dudchenko, and Board Chairman of the Institute for Religious Freedom, Oleksandr Zaiets.
In September 2022, the Ukrainian Institute for Religious Freedom published the report "Russian attacks on religious freedom in Ukraine" and video evidence of Russian war crimes against Ukrainian religious communities
The updated research, recently presented in Washington, D.C., was carried out by the IRF Ukraine with the support of the peacebuilding movements PAX (Netherlands) and Mission Eurasia (USA).
Originally from the Institute for Religious Freedom
CCD edited and reprinted with permission
宗教自由研究所（Institute for Religious Freedom）在一份报告中称，“由于俄罗斯对乌克兰的全面入侵，至少有494间宗教建筑、神学院，以及圣所被俄军完全摧毁、破坏或掠夺。”
位于乌克兰基辅的这间实体组织发现，大多数教堂、清真寺和犹太会堂毁于“顿涅茨克地区（至少120间）和卢甘斯克地区（超过70间）”。
哈尔科夫地区另有50间被毁圣殿，同时出现很多针对信仰自由的袭击。
自从俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京于2022年2月24日下令入侵以来，针对宗教建筑的争夺在很多情况下导致“其被用作俄军军事基地或掩盖俄军火力点”。
遭受破坏最严重的宗教派别为乌克兰东正教会（隶属莫斯科牧首区），有143间建筑受影响。
但福音派教会联合体的数字超过上述数字：自从入侵开始以来，至少有147间福音派圣殿遭到损害或破坏，其中75间属于五旬节派、49间属于浸信会、22间属于“其他福音派教会”。
其他如耶和华见证人（94间）和乌克兰东正教会（隶属基辅都主教区，34间）和安息日会（24间）等教派也记录了他们的建筑损失情况。
2月1日，报告介绍会在美国华盛顿特区举行。宗教自由研究所的执行董事马克西姆·瓦辛（Maksym Vasin）称信徒及神职人员常常因为乌克兰语、属于不同于莫斯科牧首区的其他教派，或是任何其他乌克兰身份的表现而成为俄占领当局的目标。
宗教自由研究所称：“在俄占领期间，乌克兰福音派教会的信徒们特别受到影响。俄军士兵三番五次威胁彻底消灭所有福音派信徒，还称他们为‘美国间谍’、‘分裂分子’和‘俄罗斯东正教人民的敌人’。”
https://christiantimes.cn/news/38802/%E6%8A%A5%E5%91%8A%EF%BC%9A%E4%BF%84%E7%BD%97%E6%96%AF%E5%85%A5%E4%BE%B5%E5%B7%B2%E7%BB%8F%E9%80%A0%E6%88%90%E4%B9%8C%E5%85%8B%E5%85%B0146%E9%97%B4%E7%A6%8F%E9%9F%B3%E6%B4%BE%E6%95%99%E4%BC%9A%E8%A2%AB%E6%AF%81
报告：俄罗斯入侵已经造成乌克兰146间福音派教会被毁
As a result of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, at least 494 religious buildings, theological institutions, and sacred places were wholly destroyed, damaged, or looted by the Russian military.
The Ukrainian Institute for Religious Freedom presented this updated data on the impact of the war on Ukrainian religious communities on January 31 and February 1 during the Summit on International Religious Freedom (IRF Summit 2023) held in Washington, D.C.
According to the IRF Ukraine, since the presentation at last year's IRF Summit, in July 2022, the number of religious infrastructure facilities in Ukraine affected by Russian aggression has more than doubled.
Most churches, mosques, and synagogues were destroyed in the Donetsk region (at least 120) and Luhansk region (more than 70). The scale of destruction is also enormous in the Kyiv region (70), where desperate battles were fought in defense of the capital, and in the Kharkiv region – more than 50 destroyed religious buildings. Russian air raids, including those using Iranian drones, have affected almost all regions of Ukraine and continue to this day.
The Institute for Religious Freedom also documented many cases of the seizure of religious buildings in Ukraine and their further use as Russian military bases or to conceal the firing positions of Russian troops. This tactic of the Russian military provokes an increase in the scale of destruction of religious sites in Ukraine.
Churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate) suffered the most from Russian aggression – at least 143 were destroyed.
The scale of destruction of evangelical church prayer houses is immense – at least 170 in total, of which most affected were Evangelical Christian churches—75; Evangelical Baptist Christian prayer houses—49; and Seventh-day Adventist churches—24.
The updated IRF data now contains information on the destruction of the Kingdom Halls of Jehovah's Witnesses—a total of 94 religious buildings, of which seven were utterly destroyed, 17 were severely damaged, and 70 were insignificantly damaged.
The Institute for Religious Freedom also documented targeted attacks on religious figures and believers by the Russian military and intelligence services, primarily in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
In his speech at the summit, IRF executive director Dr. Maksym Vasin stated that believers and clergy often became targets for the Russian occupation authorities because of the Ukrainian language, belonging to a different denomination than the orthodoxy of the Moscow Patriarchate, or for any other manifestation of Ukrainian identity.
During the Russian occupation, believers of evangelical churches in Ukraine (Pentecostals, Baptists, Adventists, Charismatics, etc.) were particularly affected. Russian soldiers repeatedly threatened the total physical destruction of all evangelical believers, calling them "American spies," "sectarians," and "enemies of the Russian Orthodox people."
Valentyn Syniy, the rector of the Tavriski Christian Institute, which was entirely destroyed by the Russian military, testified on this at the IRF Summit 2023 in Washington, D.C.
Dmitry Bodyu, a pastor of the Word of Life Church in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, shared his personal story of Russian captivity with the IRF Summit participants. The Russian military seized the church building, and he was imprisoned and told that he would soon be killed. The pastor was able to escape from a Russian prison and evacuate, but for local evangelical believers under Russian occupation, a deadly threat remains.
Also, pastor Bodyu mentioned in his speech that the Russian occupation authorities illegally imprisoned two Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church clergymen in Berdiansk, in the Zaporizhzhia region. They are Ivan Levitskyi and Bohdan Geleta, who have been in prison for more than three months and are tortured and charged arbitrarily with terrorism and assistance.
During the IRF Summit, a separate panel discussion dedicated to Ukraine was held, which was also attended by the first deputy chairman of the All-Ukrainian Union of the Churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists. Igor Bandura, first deputy senior bishop of the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church; Anatoliy Kozachok, president of the Union of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, Oleksandr Yazlovetskiy, Archpriest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Father Andrii Dudchenko, and Board Chairman of the Institute for Religious Freedom, Oleksandr Zaiets.
In September 2022, the Ukrainian Institute for Religious Freedom published the report "Russian attacks on religious freedom in Ukraine" and video evidence of Russian war crimes against Ukrainian religious communities
The updated research, recently presented in Washington, D.C., was carried out by the IRF Ukraine with the support of the peacebuilding movements PAX (Netherlands) and Mission Eurasia (USA).
Originally from the Institute for Religious Freedom
CCD edited and reprinted with permission
Almost 500 Religious Sites Were Destroyed in Ukraine As a Result of Russian Aggression
