Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the extent of destruction of churches in Russian-occupied Eastern Ukraine.
Answered on
15 May 2019
We are extremely concerned by reports from Eastern Ukraine of the seizing and sealing of churches and other places of worship, forced cancellation of services and arrests and harassment of clergy. This is part of a wider pattern of human rights violations and abuses perpetrated by Russian-backed separatists in the non-government controlled areas of eastern Ukraine.
We continue to call on Russia to use its considerable influence over the separatists to ensure respect for all human rights, and on all sides to implement recommendations contained in the reports of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.