Russian occupation forces began dismantling a worship building of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in the Crimean city of Yevpatoria on Sunday (July 21), according to published reports.
The forces removed the dome and dismantled the upper part of the of the Holy Cross Church building, according to The Voice of Crimea.
The OCU is separate from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that is supported by the Moscow Patriarchate and loyal to the Kremlin. The OCU Holy Cross Church had faced a legal challenge dating back to 2019 for allegedly failing to adhere to the Russian occupiers’ brand of Orthodox Christianity.
The Crimean OCU Diocese reportedly endured constant pressure to obey a decision by the occupier-controlled Yevpatoria City Court to flatten the church building. As the OCU did not agree with the demolition order, the occupation authorities successfully appealed to the court again for the works to be carried out.
In response to the dismantling work, on Monday (July 22) the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous region, forced by war to relocate to Kyiv since June 12, 2014, announced that it had initiated criminal proceedings.
The Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol initiated criminal proceedings over the illegal destruction of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Yevpatoria under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war), the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office announced.
“Yesterday, on July 21, 2024, representatives of the occupation authorities began dismantling the Holy Cross Church of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Yevpatoria. This was preceded by an illegal decision of the occupation Yevpatoria City Court in 2019 to demolish the church,” the prosecutor’s office stated. “Such actions grossly violate the requirements of Article 147 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 1949, which prohibits the destruction of property not justified by military necessity, as well as Article 56 of the Hague Regulations relative to the Laws and Customs of War of 1907, which explicitly provides for the protection of religious institutions from seizure, destruction or willful damage.”
The prosecutor’s office, working with the non-governmental organization Global Rights Compliance, first sent a legal submission to the International Criminal Court in February about the actions of Russian occupiers against religious groups in Crimea.
“This submission contains evidence of systematic persecution and pressure on the religious communities of the peninsula, in particular the destruction of the churches of the Crimean Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” the prosecutor’s office stated.
Gyunduz Mamedov, former deputy prosecutor general for Ukraine, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the church building had been the last OCU denomination church standing in occupied Crimea.
“Another manifestation of the #Russian Federation’s systematic policy of discrimination against Ukrainians on the basis of nationality under occupation,” he wrote (translated). “Metropolitan Klyment said that the last Ukrainian church is being dismantled in the occupied Crimea. The occupying city authorities of Yevpatoria have begun dismantling the Holy Cross Church of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”
Mamedov also challenged the international legal basis for the demolition, quoting the Geneva Convention.
“#Geneva Convention IV stipulates that citizens in the occupied territories have the right to respect for religious beliefs, and the occupying power must allow religious ministers to provide spiritual support to their fellow believers,” he wrote. “Discrimination on the basis of nationality and religion is unacceptable. The actions of the occupation administrations and the inspirers of such state policy should be given a legal assessment.”
