The Institute for Religious Freedom has updated the data on partially damaged or completely destroyed religious buildings that were destroyed as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war. According to the organization, the number of such buildings now stands at 630. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s churches suffered the most and were destroyed.

“Most of all churches, houses of worship, synagogues and mosques were destroyed in Donetsk region (at least 146), Lugansk region (at least 83) and Kherson region (at least 78). Kiev region (73) was also subjected to large-scale destruction when Russian troops tried to seize the Ukrainian capital in February-March 2022. Due to the fact that hostilities continue, the number of destroyed structures continues to grow in Kharkiv region (at least 62), Zaporizhzhya (at least 51) and Mykolaiv region (at least 41)”, – the IRF reports.

In addition, specialists of the institute investigated the confessional component of this issue. It turned out that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church remains the most affected by military actions.

“On confessional basis from the Russian aggression suffered most of all Orthodox churches – no less than 246 in total. Of these, the most temples belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate – no less than 187. Also 59 temples of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine were destroyed or damaged”, – is noted in the message.

It is worth noting that as of January 2024, experts from the Institute for Religious Freedom reported that 530 religious buildings were damaged or completely destroyed as a result of hostilities in Ukraine. When comparing with the updated data, the number of such buildings increased by 100 practically in three months.