The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine condemns the decision of the occupiers to evict the community of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine from the Cathedral of the Saint Volodymyr and Olha in Simferopol. The department believes that such actions are aimed at erasing Ukrainian identity in the temporarily occupied territories and is part of the policy of oppression of all religious communities in the occupied Crimea. The press service of the Foreign Ministry reported about this.
“The persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox community in Crimea is aimed at erasing Ukrainian identity in the temporarily occupied territories and is part of the policy of oppression of all religious communities in Crimea that are not under Moscow's control. Large-scale persecution unfolded against Crimean Muslims. According to human rights activists, 71 Crimeans of Muslim faith are behind bars in the trumped-up cases”,- the message said.
The ministry noted that the Russian occupation administration in Crimea is abusing legislation in the field of combating extremism and is applying administrative legislation to combat religious communities.
“Only the Orthodox churches controlled by the Moscow Patriarchate remain free from obstacles in their religious activities. We call on the Russian Federation, as an occupying state, to comply with the norms of international law, including international humanitarian law, and to end the oppression of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and other religious communities in Crimea”,- added the Foreign Ministry.
We remind that on August 4, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation refused to reconsider the decision to evict the OCU community from the Cathedral in Simferopol. As noted by the lawyer Serhii Zaiiets, this means the complete elimination of the Ukrainian Orthodox community in Crimea, and with such actions the Russian Federation continues to purge Crimea from everything Ukrainian.