Religious Persecution Officially Legal in Ukraine
Ukraine's controversial bill targeting the Orthodox Church has passed the first step of legalization with little international interest.
The above video shows an elderly resident of Vaslovovtsi, Ukraine when only yesterday her church was overtaken by uniformed forces of the Zelensky regime. “Where am I to pray?” she asks, having been robbed of her place of worship while her two of her grandsons and son are at war. The priest and parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Vaslovovtsi were removed from the premises following the first of two necessary votes in the the Ukrainian parliament in favor of legislation banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church due to it being under the guidance of the Moscow Patriarchate. The bill, which passed with 267 votes in favor and only 15 against, would strip the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the right to act as a religious organization.
The following clip of the church at it was sieged shows elderly parishioners helpless and distraught as they are forces out of their most sacred place of refuge and solace as their country devolves into a graveyard. The Ukrainian government has been trying to seize the property of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church since it declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 in the attempt to break all ties with the Russian Federation. In addition to the wrongful confiscation of property and the persecution of prominent individuals associated with church, there have also been consistent attempts at inciting Russian forces into attacking churches by using them as bomb shelters.
The international community's response to the actions taken by the Ukrainian government has been notably subdued. While human rights violations, particularly those related to religious freedom, usually elicit strong condemnations from global bodies and nations advocating for human rights, the reaction in this case has been remarkably understated.
-The Shultz Report by M. Shultz