Yesterday, 21 July, in the city of Yevpatoria (Kezlev), the occupying Russian authorities began dismantling the Church of the Holy Cross of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Now the dome has been removed from the temple and the upper part of the church has been dismantled.
This was reported by Metropolitan of Simferopol and Crimean Orthodox Church of Ukraine Kliment in his video message, which he gave to journalist Andrei Tsaplienko on 22 July.
The occupiers have already removed the dome and dismantled the upper part of the church.
‘Metropolitan of Simferopol and Crimea Kliment, in the world Kushch, desperately appeals on our Telegram-channel to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the international community with a demand for an immediate reaction to the attempt to destroy the presence of the Ukrainian ethnos on the peninsula, and also asks the President to bring this issue to the NSDC’, – stated in the message.
Earlier we told about the fate of the temple and the struggle of the parish for it.
The Mission of the President of Ukraine in Crimea condemned such actions of the Russians.
‘We urge the international society and the world religious community to condemn the criminal persecution of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the occupied Crimea and the unlawful destruction of its temples and respond to the next violations of the same rights, on which there is already a decision of the ECHR in the case of ‘Ukraine v. Russia (on Crimea)’ regarding their unlawfulness’, – stated in the message.
According to the Mission, the Russian security forces are also actively assisted in the dismantling of the church by a local resident, Andrei Skryapin, who is the commandant of the hostel on Internatsionalnaya Street, where the church is located.