DESS head: Most war-ruined Ukraine churches belong to UOC
Viktor Yelensky said that more than 50% of damaged or destroyed religious sites belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) Viktor Yelensky stated that most of the religious sites in Ukraine damaged by Russian strikes belong to the UOC.
During a meeting with the UOC clergy in Zaporizhzhia, he said that of the 807 churches, houses of prayer, synagogues, mosques and other places of worship destroyed or damaged since the start of the full-scale war, 420 belong to the UOC. This is approximately 52%.
Responding to a question from Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol about the persecution of UOC believers, Yelensky said that, in his opinion, the main problems with freedom of religion arise in the temporarily occupied territories, where churches are being closed and clergy, including those of the UOC, are being imprisoned.
"I am aware, and I fully recognize that of the 807 churches, houses of worship, synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship destroyed or damaged by Russian invaders during the full-scale war, 420 belong to the UOC," Yelensky added.
He emphasized that the UOC had suffered the greatest destruction among the country’s religious organizations. The DESS head attributed responsibility for the destruction to Russian forces.
Following this, Metropolitan Luke clarified that his question concerned not military actions but the campaign of harassment against UOC clergy, which, according to the hierarch, DESS was taking no steps to address.
As the UOJ reported, a UOC convent burned down in Stepanivka due to shelling.
