Fifty Ukrainian priests killed by Russia since all-out war started

Russians have killed around 50 Ukrainian priests and destroyed 700 churches since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Men of the cloth were killed for refusing to serve Russian Patriarch Kirill (secular name Vladimir Gundyayev) and the Russian Orthodox Church, according to Zelenskyy.

“There is clear evidence of how they [the Russians] tortured them [the priests]. Why? Simply because they refused to serve Patriarch Kirill and his church. A priest serves the people, not the state. For this, they were executed. They wanted to break them,” the president said.

Zelenskyy added that the Kremlin views all Ukrainian churches the same way it views Ukrainian schools – both institutions are targets for destruction.

“Across Ukraine, they [the Russians] destroyed schools and churches, leaving no trace behind. This is why so many priests were either captured or killed,” the president explained.

In November, Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, revealed that before the full-scale invasion, Russia had been preparing for a new genocide of the Ukrainian people. Execution lists were drawn, mobile crematoriums were prepared, and mass graves planned. 

The killing lists reportedly included priests of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and other denominations that supported Ukraine.

In March, the Russian People’s Council, an organization under the auspices of the Russian Orthodox Church, declared Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine a “holy war.” The so-called decree was approved under the leadership of Moscow Patriarch Kirill.