[Pastor and rector, Valentyn] Syniy said several pastors who stayed behind were detained and beaten by the Russians, who told them that "sectarians" have no place in Russia and should be buried alive. Russia has illegally annexed many of its occupied territories in eastern Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Russian military has killed at least 39 priests, pastors and monks; destroyed, damaged or looted at least 640 churches, monasteries, mosques, synagogues, theological institutions and other places of worship, said Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience.