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.

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