As a result of war, 244 churches of UOC are damaged

St George's Church of the UOC in the village of Oleksandro-Shultyne, Donetsk region, after a missile strike. Photo: suspilne.media

During the period from 24 February 2022 to 24 September 2023, as a result of military operations in Ukraine, at least 500 religious structures were affected, with 244 of them belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Such data were collected within the framework of the project "Religion on Fire: Documenting Russia's War Crimes against Religious Communities in Ukraine", implemented by the public organization "Workshop of Academic Religious Studies" with the support of the State Ethnopolitics Service and the Congress of National Communities of Ukraine.

According to the project participants, 156 buildings of Protestant denominations also suffered damage to varying degrees, 39 damaged objects belonged to the OCU, 15 – to Jewish communities, 12 – to the UGCC and the RCC, 7 – to Muslims, and 8 to representatives of other religions. The report also highlights the number of affected religious educational institutions of various denominations, which totalled 6.

More than 100 religious sites are either completely destroyed or severely damaged and can no longer be used for their intended purpose.

As reported, on September 4, 2023, as a result of a missile strike on the village of Oleksandro-Shultyne in the Donetsk region, a 200-year-old UOC church suffered severe damage.

Read also