Churches, mosques, Hare Krishna temple: Ukrainians collect data on holy places destroyed by Russians
A digital platform has been created in Ukraine to provide data on religious buildings destroyed by the Russians during the full-scale war.
Activists have collected materials on 16 religious sites in Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts. The authors of the initiative told Ukrainska Pravda.Zhyttia (Life) that information about eight of them is already available on the Temples Under Fire platform.
The site publishes photos and videos of destruction and damage to shrines of various religions that the initiative has gathered.
In so doing, the authors of the project want to document the destruction of Ukrainian religious sites by Russia, draw attention to the damage done to the spiritual, cultural and historical heritage of Ukraine, and promote the restoration of religious sites in the future.
"We tried to choose buildings belonging to different religions: the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, Baptists, Protestants, Muslims, etc. We focused on the settlements where the fiercest battles took place," the project initiators say.
"All religions and denominations represented in Ukraine without exception have suffered losses. For example, a mosque in Bakhmut was completely destroyed, as was a Hare Krishna temple in Kramatorsk, a house of prayer belonging to Evangelical Christians/Baptists in Druzhkivka, a wooden church of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Ruski Tyshky, etc.
However, the largest number of destroyed and damaged churches belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate – more than 80 destroyed and more than 200 damaged," the authors of the project say.
As of the beginning of 2023, at least 494 religious buildings, religious educational institutions and shrines were destroyed, damaged or looted by the Russian occupiers in Ukraine, the Institute for Religious Freedom, a non-profit association in Ukraine, reported.
Most of the facilities destroyed were in Donetsk Oblast (over 120) and Luhansk Oblast (over 70). Large-scale destruction was recorded in Kharkiv, Kherson and Kyiv oblasts.
Currently, the site offers detailed information about eight destroyed religious buildings.
The project will be expanded and replenished with materials on religious buildings in other regions of Ukraine affected by the war.
Background:
- Earlier, Ukraine had launched the Map of Destruction digital platform, which records the damage caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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