"Mostly in the UOC": Over 700 religious buildings damaged in Ukraine as a result of war

Ukraine has released updated statistics on damaged religious buildings during the Russian-Ukrainian war. According to the information provided by the Religion on Fire initiative, representatives of various denominations and religions suffered significant damage, with the greatest losses among Orthodox and Protestant communities. This was reported on the organization’s Facebook account.

According to the data, Orthodox churches were seriously damaged during the fighting. In particular, 395 churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and 75 churches of the OCU were damaged. Protestant communities also suffered significant losses, with 194 houses of worship damaged or completely destroyed.

The scale of the destruction is not limited to Orthodox and Protestant communities. The statistics also include 31 churches of the RCC and UGCC, 7 mosques, and 22 synagogues. In addition to places of worship, 11 religious educational institutions and 18 facilities of other religious communities were damaged. This emphasizes the universal nature of the losses to the country’s spiritual heritage.

The Religion on Fire initiative emphasizes that these figures are minimal. Full and accurate monitoring in the frontline areas and temporarily occupied territories is still difficult, which means that the actual number of damaged objects may be much higher. The destruction of religious buildings represents not only material damage, but also a serious blow to the cultural and spiritual heritage of Ukraine. These objects often served as humanitarian centers, shelters and places of spiritual support for civilians during the war.

Earlier, we reported that after the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Ukraine will have to face a number of serious social challenges, one of which is the demographic crisis. Statistics show that Ukrainians who have left the country over the past three years are mostly reluctant to return.