On February 24, 2022, Putin introduced an attack on Ukraine without any provocation and without any credible justification. The following months saw evidence suggesting that Russian troops were committing atrocities, adding war crimes, crimes against humanity and even genocide. Growing evidence of conflict-related sexual violence, the addition of youth, abductions and forcible transfers of populations, the addition of young people for forced adoption, and many others. The litany of crimes knows no bounds.
In December 2022, the Institute for Religious Freedom (IRF), a human rights NGO founded in 2001 in Kyiv, Ukraine, to protect and promote freedom of faith or trust and other human rights, published a report on Putin’s influence. war against the right to freedom of faith or trust in Ukraine and the effect of war against devout or devout communities. conviction.
The report concludes that since February 24, 2022, Russian attacks on freedom of faith or trust in Ukraine have become more common and harsh. The report noted that between February 24 and July 15, 2022, at least 270 places of worship, religious education institutions, and holy places (cemeteries, memorials, etc. ) were completely destroyed or destroyed by Russian troops. The largest number of churches, mosques and synagogues were affected in the Donetsk region with 71 buildings destroyed or destroyed, specifically in the city of Mariupol. In the Kyiv region, 53 places of worship were destroyed or destroyed. As the additional report states, “Where previously priests in the occupied territories only received death threats, now devout leaders are being tortured and killed, again, but on a scale much worse than in 2014. If before the rule of the profession Russia was driving Ukrainian believers out of their churches and houses of worship, now Russia is destroying Ukraine’s non-secular heritage with missile attacks, bombings and looting of devout buildings without justification for military necessity.
The report suggests that “Russian media and devout leaders, such as Patriarch Kirill (. . . ), justify the war against Ukraine with propaganda about the alleged coverage of Orthodox believers of the Moscow patriarchate and Russian speakers. “This is not the first such accusation. Indeed, in June 2022, the British government imposed targeted sanctions against Patriarch Kirill accused of inducing and approving Putin’s war. Moreover, as new legal research through experts reports, “the devout government [in Russia] has reinforced the narrative that praises the invasion with innuendo and non-secular meaning. On March 13, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, presented an Orthodox icon to Russian General and National Guard Director Viktor Zolotov to “inspire young soldiers” who are “on the track of protecting the Fatherland. “Those devoted leaders will have to be very well researched.
The report makes several recommendations, adding the status quo of a special tribunal for the punishment of the crime of aggression against Ukraine, facilitating the investigation through the International Criminal Court of any war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed on the territory of Ukraine. Ukraine, for Ukrainian States to strive to investigate and prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and for States to impose targeted sanctions against many perpetrators of such atrocities.
As more and more evidence of Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine, and of the atrocities affecting all facets of life, is revealed, evidence needs to be brought before competent domestic and foreign courts to ensure justice and accountability.