DPR TERRORISTS ABDUCT, TORTURE, AND THREATEN DONBASS BELIEVERS

Donbass Region [also known as the Donetsk Basin] – Insurgents from the terrorist organization the Donetsk People's Republic are systematically implementing the provisions of their "constitution," which has no room for religious freedom. This is what the Institute for Religious Freedom reports after analyzing data on violations of the rights of believers in the Donestsk region by DNR insurgents. On April 15, 2014, unknown men in masks with the Russian flag posted anti-Semitic leaflets near the Donetsk synagogue on behalf of DNR "people's governor" Denis Pushilin. "All citizens of Jewish nationality over 16 years of age residing in the territory of the sovereign Donetsk Republic are required to report to the Acting Commissioner for Nationalities in the building of the Donetsk Regional Administration to rm. 514 for registration. The cost for registering is $50 USD," were the contents of the leaflet.   On May 9, at a checkpoint in Kostyantynivka, the terrorists shot dead Pavel Zhuchenko, a local priest in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) and the rector of the parish in Alekseevo-Druzhkovka.  According to media reports, the priest tried to reason with the militants, who turned out to be from the Caucasus, and they opened fire. On May 15,  the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate issued a special statement saying that there were "numerous incidents of threats to the life and health of the clergy and faithful of the UOC KP, and the obstruction of Church activities in the eastern regions of Ukraine by the terrorist and separatist forces controlled and abetted by Russia." According to the statement, armed men broke into the churches of the Kiev Patriarchate demanding the clergy immediately be placed under the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate. The terrorists also "sentenced to death" the priests of the Kiev Patriarchate, which, given the current situation, suggests a real threat to the life of the clergy and faithful of the UOC KP in the Donetsk and Lugansk areas. On May 16 in Slovyansk, terrorists kidnapped the bishop of the Ukrainian Church of God evangelical association, Alexey Demidovich, and held him for about 7 hours in the basement of the local station of the  Security Service of Ukraine (SSU). Moreover,  DNR terrorists repeatedly encroached upon the house of worship of the Good News religious association in Slovyansk, whose senior pastor is A. Demidovich, so that their snipers could use it as a point from which to fire their weapons. On May 23 at lunch time in the center of Donetsk, about 15 fighters with insignia of the DNR and with St. George ribbons stormed the interfaith prayer tent on Constitution Square. Two church workers were in the tent when it was overrun. The terrorists seized equipment, the storage battery, speakers and the microphone, and threw the banner and torn tent into the Kalmius River. The militants also levied the following threat: "If believers gather here in the evening for worship, then they will all be shot."     Immediately after this, on his own initiative, Pastor Sergey Kosyak of the Assembly of God religious community, who is one of the organizers of the prayer tent, set out to negotiate with the terrorists in the quarters of the Donetsk Regional State Administration. He was detained and released 4 hours later after first being severly beaten. On May 25, the DNR militants decided to "nationalize" the Protestant house of worship in the city of Horlivka [Gorlovka]. The building which previously housed The Church of Christ religious community and the Bear Valley Bible Institute is where the invaders set up their headquarters and turned the believers out onto the street.   On May 27 at noon, a Polish Catholic priest, Fr. Pavel Vitek, was abducted by pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk during street prayers. He came to the city to participate in an ecumenical prayer service in Constitution Square, where a daily prayer for peace in Ukraine is held. Yan Sobilo, the Auxiliary Bishop of the diocese of Kharkiv-Zaporizhia, and Jakub Volonsevich, the General Consul of Poland in Donetsk, went to secure the release of the priest. The negotiations concluded with the DNR terrorists releasing  Fr. Pavel Vitek after he had spent almost 24 hours in the basement of the SSU, in the captivity of the militants. On May 27, Bishop Yan Sobilo told Vatican Radio that due to separatist activities, the status of religious freedom in Donbass was worsening day by day. "With every day, the situation is increasingly troublesome. Rebels and separatists have paralyzed the city. In Kramatorsk a few days ago, they fired from a machine gun at the chapel. The windows are shattered, and the believers are afraid to attend the Divine Service.  Even if the believers could meet for worship, the priest isn't able to, because this part of the city is surrounded. The same situation is being played out in Lugansk, Donetsk, Slovyansk, and Horlivka," said the Catholic bishop. Considering these facts, it should be noted that on May 16, the self-proclaimed "People's Republic of Donetsk" adopted the text of its own "constitution." Article 9 of this document specifies that in the DNR, the "original and dominant faith is the Orthodox faith..., propagated by the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).    The so-called "constitution" of the DNR also specifies: "The historical experience and role of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) are recognized and respected, including as the core pillars of the Russian World." Let us also recall that on May 12, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the results of the separatist "referendum" that was held in Donbass must be implemented within the framework of a dialogue between Kiev, Donetsk and Lugansk. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry responded to the Russian statement, stressing that such comments by the Kremlin directly encourage the illegitimate activities of the separatists.  In this regard, on May 16, the General Prosecutor of Ukraine officially designated the self-proclaimed "People's Republic of Donetsk" and "People's Republic of Luhansk" as terrorist organizations.

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