DESS reports a "brazen annexation of eparchies" in occupied territories
First deputy head of the State Ethnopolitics Service (DESS) Viktor Voynalovych. Photo: dess.gov.ua
First deputy head of the State Ethnopolitics Service Viktor Voynalovych spoke about the activities of religious organizations in Ukraine, in particular in the occupied territories, reports the DESS press service.
According to him, there is a "brazen annexation of eparchies" in the occupied territories, and priests succumb to torture and persecution.
He said that about 400 places of worship have been destroyed as a result of Russian aggression, of which about 100 are beyond repair.
Voynalovych also said that today there is a need for "spiritual decolonization of the Ukrainian space" to "free Ukraine from the influence of Russian Orthodox ideologies".
As reported, the head of the DESS said that Ukraine would not allow the abuse of religious freedom in the interests of the Russian Federation.
Read also
TRC officers mobilize rector of UOC parish in Radisne
Archpriest Mykhailo Bilokin was detained on his way to a service in the Kamianske Eparchy, and his current whereabouts are unknown.
Metropolitan Onuphry consecrates Annunciation Church in Bukovyna village of Ostrytsia
Thousands of faithful from the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Eparchy of the UOC gathered for the service in the newly consecrated Church of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos.
U.S. delegation visits St. Sophia of Kyiv ahead of peace talks
Zelensky took the U.S. negotiators to St. Sophia of Kyiv.
Rescuers urge Hasidic pilgrims in Uman not to perform rituals in local quarry
The State Emergency Service warned Hasidic pilgrims in Uman about the dangers of ritual immersion in a flooded quarry that is not equipped for swimming.
UOC Social Department provides food packages to 100 displaced families
In Kyiv, 100 internally displaced families received food and essential supplies from the UOC Social Department.
Third Armenian judge refuses to hear case against Catholicos
A third judge has refused to hear the case against the head of the Armenian Church and six bishops, with the case materials sent to the Court of Cassation.