Russian official accuses Kiev of constant aggression against Orthodox believers
February 11, 2016. Russian Foreign Ministry human rights ombudsman Mr Konstantin Dolgov has accused Kiev of escalating aggression against Orthodox believers and churches of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine, as the website tass reports.
“Pressure on freedom of media, lack of investigation into tortures and continued use of torture methods in Ukrainian prisons is unfortunately added to by another theme that has been escalating of late – I would call this an aggression, a large-scale attack on the legitimate rights of Orthodox believers in Ukraine,” Dolgov told a session of Duma’s working group for legal analysis of legislative procedures and enactments adopted in Ukraine.
The Foreign Ministry’s commissioner for human rights, democracy and the rule of law explained that he referred to an ongoing “vicious chain of arson attacks on Orthodox churches of the Moscow Patriarchate, their seizure by force with the help of volunteer battalions, the Right Sector (radical nationalist movement) with direct connivance, and sometimes with participation of law enforcement agencies.”