Zelensky: Russia killed about 50 Ukrainian priests during the invasion

Russian troops killed about 50 Ukrainian priests and destroyed 700 Ukrainian churches.

This was stated by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with the SBN TV channel.

According to Zelensky, priests were killed for refusing to serve Russian Patriarch Kirill and the Russian Church — they were shot, and some were tortured. Priests were also taken prisoner.

"There is all the evidence of how they [the Russians] tortured them [the priests]. For what? Only because they had to serve Patriarch Kirill and their church. But the priests simply refused, because a priest serves the people. They were shot for this, they simply wanted to break the people," the president said.

Zelensky added that the Russians, having entered Ukrainian territory, completely destroyed all schools and churches.

• During the full-scale war against Ukraine, the Russian military has damaged at least 560 different religious sites. This is according to the team of the Religion in Fire project, which documents Russian crimes against religion. We are not just talking about churches or temples — they are counting houses of prayer, cemeteries, monasteries, and religious educational institutions.
• Entire religious communities are also disappearing due to war. "For example, small religious groups like the Karaites, most of whom are in Crimea, but there are also in Kharkiv and Kyiv. When the kenas [Karaite prayer house] was shelled in Kharkiv, of course, people are already afraid to go there. Believers and priests are leaving these places because there is a threat to their lives," explained religious scholar Ulyana Sevastyaniv.

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