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The Ministry of Reintegration has prepared a package of sanctions against persons obstructing the activities of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in the occupied Crimea. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Reintegration, UA informs.
The government is expected to agree on sanctions in the coming days. This decision was made after on Russian security forces broke into the monastery of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki of the Crimean Diocese of the PCU in August 8. They forced the abbot of the monastery to stop worship, and protocols were made for all participants. The Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories considers this to be another act of pressure from the occupying power.
“Since 2014, the occupiers have been forcibly ousting the Ukrainian church out of the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula. For all this chaos, the occupying state and specific individuals should be held accountable” – the ministry said.
The sanctions will apply to judges of the Russian Federation and other officials involved in the persecution of the church community in Crimea.
At the same time, the prosecutor’s office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea has launched criminal proceedings for obstructing Russian security forces from conducting services in the monastery. The prosecutor’s office stressed that such actions of the occupying power are a direct violation of international humanitarian law and another confirmation of discrimination and pressure on the only Ukrainian religious community in Crimea.
In the occupied Crimea on August 8, Russian security forces broke into the monastery of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine during a service. The abbot of the monastery was forced to end the prayer, allegedly because he performed services in violation of Russian law.
