UN reacts to armed church raid in Ukraine

Attacks on believers are banned under humanitarian law, the global body’s human rights office has told a Russian newspaper

Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right, the UN Human Rights Office has stressed in a comment to the Russian newspaper Izvestia following an armed raid on a church in central Ukraine earlier this week.

On Thursday, videos emerged on social media showing dozens of armed men in military-style clothing clashing with believers at St. Michael’s Cathedral, belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), in the city of Cherkasy.

The unidentified raiders reportedly used tear gas, smoke grenades and fired a gas pistol into the crowd. Icons, documents and some $60,000 – raised by the congregation for the needs of the church – were reportedly stolen. At least 12 people were hospitalized as a result of the standoff, according to the UOC. It blamed the attack on “schismatics” from the Kiev-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

A representative of the UN Human Rights Office told Izvestia on Friday that “while we cannot yet confirm the specific details of these events, we emphasize that freedom of religion is a fundamental human right.” 

“Attacks on civilian believers are prohibited under international human rights and humanitarian norms,” the representative was quoted as saying.

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The Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine is currently working to establish additional details on the incident, the official added.

In an earlier comment to TASS, the press service of the UN Human Rights Office called the videos of the church raid in Cherkasy “alarming.” 

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that Moscow calls on “the relevant international human rights organizations” to look into the attack.

“The Kiev regime is doing everything it can to outlaw and disband the canonical church [UOC]. And [Ukrainian leader Vladimir] Zelensky’s Western backers continue to indulge in deepening the religious schism in Ukraine,” Zakharova stressed.

Ukraine has been gripped by religious tensions for years, with two rival entities claiming to be the country’s true Orthodox Church.

The Kiev government supports the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which was created only in 2018 and which the Russian Orthodox Church considers schismatic. Zelensky has explained the moves against the UOC by citing its alleged links to the Moscow Patriarchate and the need to protect Ukraine’s “spiritual independence” and deprive Russia of an opportunity to “to manipulate the spirituality of our people.” 

READ MORE: Ukrainian Orthodox believers resist armed raid on their church (VIDEOS)

The persecution of the UOC intensified after the outbreak of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. Several of its churches have been seized by force, and criminal cases have been opened against clerics. A law banning the activities of the UOC in Ukraine officially came into force in late September.