Russia Has Destroyed More Than 500 Churches Since Beginning of Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine

On August 22, 1864, representatives of 12 states signed the first Geneva Convention on the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field. This put a start to future conventions aimed at establishing international standards for humanitarian treatment in war.

In 1949, The Fourth Geneva Convention "relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War” was adopted and is still relevant to this day.

Russia has been documented breaching the Geneva Conventions throughout its invasion of Ukraine, bombing civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and churches that people often resort to seeking safety and solace.

Today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russian troops have destroyed more than 500 churches, prayer houses and other religious buildings in Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation on February 24, 2022.

“Since the beginning of this war, Russian strikes have already destroyed more than 500 churches, prayer houses and other religious buildings. All believers of Ukraine suffered from the invasion of Russian evil,” wrote Zelenskyy.

The President continued by saying that those who hit religious targets must be denounced. 

“The one for whom even churches are targets for bombs and missiles deserves only condemnation from the whole world. And this is exactly the attitude that the Russian state, the biggest terrorist in today's world, should receive,” he added.

The deliberate destruction of religious sites and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine contravenes fundamental norms and demands a unified response from the international community in order to hold Russia accountable.