On June 30, Permanent Representative Olha Kuryshko met with the UK Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief David Smith.

The meeting focused on Russian war crimes committed in the temporarily occupied territories, with particular attention to religious persecution and violations of the fundamental human right to freedom of religion or belief.

The Permanent Representative spoke about the pressure exerted on religious communities in temporarily occupied Crimea and the erasure of the peninsula’s religious diversity that had existed prior to the 2014 occupation. As an example, she noted that in 2024 the occupation administration dismantled the dome of the Cathedral of Sts. Volodymyr and Olha of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Simferopol, illustrating restrictions on freedom of religion or belief in both its spiritual and physical dimensions.

In addition, according to Olha Kuryshko, religion has effectively become an instrument for supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine. Clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church in Crimea bless Russian soldiers before deployment, collect donations from parishioners to provide the occupying forces with weapons and medical supplies, and promote Russian propaganda narratives.

The meeting was also joined by Protestant Pastor Mykhailo Brytsyn, who shared first-hand testimony on how the Russian occupation has transformed religious life in the occupied territories. In particular, he described the fate of the Grace Evangelical Christian Church in Melitopol, where he had served as a pastor. The occupation administration first removed the cross from the church building and later converted it into the so-called Ministry of Culture of the Zaporizhzhia region, established by the occupation administration.

Pastor Brytsyn also spoke about recurring “cycles of terror”, noting that Russia’s current policies continue the Soviet Union’s practice of undermining religious life. After 1945, the Soviet authorities systematically destroyed churches, whereas today Russia has instead weaponized religion, turning the church into, as he described, “one of the departments of the Russian propaganda machine.”

The meeting was also attended by Iryna Baran, International Advocacy Manager at the NGO “Crimean Human Rights Group”, who provided further details on individual cases of politically motivated persecution and torture, including stories of Iryna Danylovych and Esma Nimetulaieva.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Mr. David Smith expressed appreciation for the informative discussion and emphasized the importance of highlighting the stories of individuals who face persecution in the temporarily occupied territories.