Russian forces are using a Ukrainian evangelical church in Mariupol as a human shield for their officers.
In line with their systematic persecution campaign against evangelicals, the Russian military seized the Ukrainian Christian Evangelical Church of the Holy Trinity (on Olympic Street). Institute for the Study of War reported on April 9 that Protestants, who the Russian occupation forces call “heretics,” suffered two-thirds of all of the reported religious repression events in occupied Mariupol.
Many of the evangelical churches in Ukraine trace their roots back to missionaries who came from New York City.
Ukrainian Mariupol Mayoral Advisor Petro Andryushchenko reported on “Telegram” that Russian forces are using the church to house 10 to 30 Russian servicemen. Because the church is only 16 feet from occupied residential buildings, the Russian officers are not afraid to gather together there, using the church and neighbors as a human shield.
Dmytro Vovk, Visiting Associate Professor at Cardozo School of Law in New York City, testified on March 15th to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, “Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has continued to engage in religious repressions in newly occupied territories. He said, “At least 26 religious figures were murdered; many more Orthodox, Greek Catholic, and Protestant priests and believers were detained, tortured, and subjected to humiliating treatment.” He recounted many disturbing and shocking actions by the Russian occupiers against religious believers
“For example, in March 2022, OCU priest Myron Zvarychuk was murdered in Bucha (the Kyiv region), when the city was under Russian occupation. Melitopol-based Protestant pastor Dmytro Bodyu was arrested and threatened with murder. Since November 2022, two Greek Catholic clerics, Ivan Levytskyi and Bohdan Haleta, have been detained in Berdyansk. They are being tortured and accused of “storing explosives.” Many religious properties were captured and used for military or other purposes (such as snipers’ nests).” It is a common occurrence to use religious buildings in residential neighborhoods and believers as human shields.
