Under Fire: How the Russian Army Targets and Militarizes Religious Sites in Violation of International Humanitarian Law
Joint investigation with Religion on Fire
Authors/Investigators
Ruslan Khalikov, head of the “Religion on Fire” project
Translator
Nelya Plakhota
Editor
Emma Urbanova
During the two years of the full-scale war, the soldiers of the Russian army have committed tens of thousands of war crimes in the territory of Ukraine. As of October 24, 2024, according to the data of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, there were 146,588 registered cases related to war crimes. In addition, there have been numerous violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law which, despite not being qualified as war crimes, have a negative impact on religious freedom and the ability to practice one's faith.
As per the data of the “Religion on Fire” project, the shelling has resulted in the destruction and damage of over 590 religious objects of different denominations, mainly in the regions with ongoing or recent active combat activities, but the facts of strikes on the objects of religious worship have also been documented in other regions.
With time, the cases of war crimes committed by the Russian military in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine are gradually coming to light, including specific military bases and even names of war criminals. For instance, when a part of the Kyiv region was occupied, in Motyzhyn, the servicemen of the 37th Motorized Rifle Brigade from Buryatia [a Russian region] committed several high-profile war crimes, including torture and murder of the local village head Olha Sukhenko and her family. Later, the local citizens recognized the criminals involved in murder and torture - for instance, one of them was Sergeant Chingiz Gonchikov, who, according to the media, serves as the vehicle commander in the 37th Motorized Rifle Brigade. It was him along with other soldiers from the same brigade, who, on March 24, 2022, attacked the “Vosor” rehabilitation centre of “Spasinnia” [Salvation] church (the Christians of Evangelical Faith (CEF)), firing grenade launchers and small arms at the building and taking the pastor Oleh Bondarenko prisoner.
The Russian troops kept the pastor in the sewer manhole for several days, then put him into the shed, but on March 29, they left the village, which saved him from death. According to the information received by the “Religion on Fire” project from the people under rehabilitation in the Centre, the Russian servicemen, including Ch. Gonchikov, used to take them out of the building and imitate execution by shooting, accusing them of working for the Ukrainian army or the territorial defence. However, the fire on the Russian military equipment from the Ukrainian side forced the Russians to retreat from the rehabilitation centre and other people in addition to the pastor got a chance to save their lives.
During the investigation, the team of the “Religion on Fire” project documented a series of war crimes against religious leaders, but the chief focus is on the violations of IHL related to religious buildings and places of religious worship which are often overlooked in the work of international lawyers and law enforcement agencies. The project team has identified several types of IHL violations, some of which can most probably be qualified as war crimes. Firstly, it is the use of prohibited methods and means of warfare, including ammunition, prohibited for use in attacking populated areas. Secondly, it is the use of religious buildings by the Russian servicemen with the purpose of warfare. The team at OSINT for Ukraine has used open-source intelligence to identify which regiments of the AF of the RF could be involved in these violations. The analysis results demonstrate a systemic character of the IHL violations and the use of similar methods by different units in different times and places.
The authors are grateful to the NGO “Foundation for Fundamental Research Support” for their consultations regarding the qualification of the IHL violations regarding religious buildings.
Indiscriminate attacks
The IHL prohibits indiscriminate attacks since they are dangerous to the civilian population. For instance, Art. 51 (cc. 4-5) of PA I (Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions) states the prohibition of the attacks, not directed at specific military objects; those which employ methods or means of combat which cannot be directed at a specific military objective; or those which employ a method or means of combat the effects of which cannot be limited as required by this Protocol; and consequently, in each such case, are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction. In practice, it means, for instance, the prohibition of the use of cluster and incendiary munitions, as well as MLRS, in a city, village, or other area where civilians or civilian objects are concentrated. Religious buildings and places of worship are not only civilian objects; they have a special protected status according to PA I (Art. 53), and some other international documents.
One of the characteristic examples of indiscriminate attacks is the fire on Zaporizhzhia on August 09, 2023, using the Iskander missile systems. A probable target could have been the “Motor-Sich” plant situated in the city but due to the use of prohibited weapons the strikes also hit residential buildings, shops, places of massive concentration of people (the rockets hit at the time of people returning home from work), and the Church of Apostles Peter and Paul (the Orthodox Church of Ukraine). Two people were killed by this strike, with an additional seven being wounded. The church suffered considerable ruination, its roof being destroyed along with the central dome, and the bell tower damaged. According to the monitoring results of the OSINT for Ukraine team, it is probable that the 92nd Missile Brigade of the Order of Kutuzov (m/b 30785), the 448th Missile Brigade (m/b 35535), or the 119th Missile Brigade (m/b 49547) which are within the combined arms army “Centre” of the AF of the RF, are responsible for this attack.
Another example of indiscriminate attack is the shelling of Kherson on January 22, 2024, made using shrapnel shells filled with flechettes. These shells are used to enhance the damage to the enemy’s military personnel, but their use during the attack on populated areas does allow for discriminating between military and civilian objects; thus, it is of impermissible danger for the civilian population. The shell exploded above the building of the “Chabad Kherson” synagogue, built in 1895, which is a recognized architectural monument since 1990, located in the historical centre of the city. According to Rabbi Josef-Itskhak Volf, the façade of the building was significantly damaged by shrapnel, and the yard was literally covered with flechettes. After Kherson was brought back under Ukraine’s control, such shellings occur regularly and result in victims among the civilian population.
Use of religious buildings as military objects
According to the norms of international humanitarian law, the parties are to restrain from transforming religious buildings of cultural value into an object of attack and not to use them and the adjacent territory to support their combat activities. If a religious building is used as a military object, it loses its enhanced protection and may become a permissible object of attack for the other party. At the same time, the team of the “Religion on Fire” project registered numerous violations of these norms by the Russian army, locating army headquarters and ammunition warehouses inside religious buildings and placing military equipment in the adjacent territory. For instance, such cases were noted in the settlements of the Kyiv (the town of Bucha), Chernihiv (the village of Lukashivka), Kharkiv (the village of Mala Komyshuvakha, the village of Hrakove), Zaporizhzhia (the town of Melitopol) regions. In the Kyiv region, there were also registered cases of placing the military personnel of the AF of the RF in religious educational institutions during the occupation of settlements (the village of Berezivka, the town of Bucha).
The best-known and well-described case of using a religious object for military purposes took place in the village of Lukashivka, Chernihiv region. The village was occupied from March 9 till March 30, 2022, during which period it was controlled by the units of the 74th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade of the AF of the RF (m/b 21005). Russian servicemen used the Church of Ascension (at the time of the occupation, this parish belonged to the UOC [the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchy]; after the liberation, the majority of the community decided to transfer under the auspices of the OCU [the Orthodox Church of Ukraine of the Kyiv Patriarchy]) as a military headquarters and munition warehouse, and placed the military equipment in the territory of the church. The church, built in 1913, has been an architectural monument of local significance since the Soviet times (the protected status was awarded on June 26, 1989), which is specified on the special plate near the main entrance to the building, but it did not prevent Russian servicemen from militarising the church. Having assessed the situation, the Ukrainian army launched a precision strike on the territory of the church on March 22, 2022, destroying the headquarters along with the ammunition warehouse, which led to a significant reduction in the combat potential of Russian units, and a week later the latter retreated from the village. The timing of the strike and the means of destruction were selected to prevent losses among the civilian population while achieving considerable losses among the occupation forces.
Several cases of arranging the military range near churches were registered in the Kharkiv region. For instance, in the village of Hrakove, occupied from February 25 to September 7, 2022, Russian servicemen used the territory around the Holy Trinity Church (UOC) to arrange the firing positions, and the bell tower to place a sniper’s post. The church was built in 1810; it is an architectural and urban building monument of regional significance since 2020. The field team at “Religion on Fire” witnessed the trenches in the immediate vicinity of the temple; there were cartridge cases and remains of the Russian military ration packs nearby. According to the testimonies of the local residents, the field hospital of the Russian army was situated inside the church, and the Russian headquarters was in the school next to the church. The OSINT for Ukraine team identified that during the occupation of the village, there were units of the 202nd Rifle Regiment of the 2nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (m/b 73438, the city of Luhansk), the 7th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 18th Separate Motorized Rifle Division of the 11th Corps of the Baltic fleet of the MMF of the AF of the RF (m/b 06414) and the 9th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the same division (m/b 38838, the city of Gusiev), and the 336th Separate Guards Marine Brigade (m/b 06017, the city of Baltiisk). According to the testimonies of the residents, during the occupation, there was a battle between the Russian soldiers present in the village and the Russian group of vehicles moving through the village. The temple could have been damaged during this battle or during battles between the armed forces of Ukraine and the Russian Federation for the village.
The Russian servicemen also used the Holy Trinity Church (OCU) in the village of Mala Komyshuvakha to support their military personnel, locating the field hospital inside the church and the military equipment on its adjacent territory. According to the testimonies of the residents, the temple itself was shelled by a Russian tank during the attack in March 2022. The village was liberated by the Ukrainian army in the middle of September 2022; afterwards, there were videos online showing the field hospital in the church. The temple was built in 1826; it is an example of classicist architecture, which was considerably damaged by the actions of the Russian army.
According to the information of the General Staff of the AFU, posted on June 1, 2023, the Russian servicemen located their base with the personnel and military equipment in the territory of the Oleksandr Nevskyi Cathedral in Melitopol.
During the occupation of some parts of the Kyiv region in March 2022, the Russian servicemen used the premises of a religious educational institution — the Ukrainian Evangelistic Divinity School in the village of Berezivka — as a surveillance post and a place to store ammunition. For instance, after the liberation, the school employees found a thermos bottle, binoculars, and empty boxes for the ammunition in the building. They also found a document, issued by the m/b 46108 (the 5th Separate Guards Tank of the Tatsyn Red Banner of the Order of the Suvorov Brigade of the AF of the RF, the city of Ulan-Ude). The building was looted and partially damaged during the occupation, with the Russians also using the vehicles belonging to school employees.
In 2022–2023, a series of cases of seizing the Kingdom Halls of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the occupied territories of Ukraine were noted. According to the data of the PR department of the Jehovah’s Witnesses Centre in Ukraine, as of November 20, 2023, there were at least 32 known cases of the seizure of the religious buildings belonging to Jehovah’s Witnesses. Some of them are used for probable support of military activities (these are in the newly occupied territories; as for the territories of ORDLR and the AR of Crimea, the activity of the Kingdom Halls has been prohibited since 2017). For instance, in the village of Yakymivka, Zaporizhzhia region, Maksym Zubarev, the head of the local occupational administration, declared in an interview for the Russian TV channel Russia 24 that the building will be rearranged into a centre of military and patriotic upbringing of young people. According to the information of the local media, in the town of Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, they started using the premises of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses as a probable dislocation base for the uniformed agencies of the RF — the AF or FSB, despite the location of a kindergarten, a school, and a polyclinic in its vicinity. In Henichesk, Kherson region, the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses was transferred for use by the Kherson regional division of the All-Russian veterans’ organization “Boevoe bratstvo” [Brothers-in-Arms].
Conclusion
During the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the soldiers of the Russian army have been committing systematic violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes. In particular, their attacks in different regions of Ukraine are directed against religious buildings which suffer ruination due to the use of prohibited methods and means of warfare, and indiscriminate shelling of populated areas.
At the same time, in the occupied territories, the Russian servicemen and representatives of de facto authorities use the religious buildings and their adjacent territories to support military activities, place headquarters and warehouses of ammunition there, and locate the military equipment in the territory of religious buildings. It is not obligatorily qualified as a war crime, but it carries risks for the building since it deprives it of its protected status and can make it a legal object of attack by the Ukrainian army. Such actions were registered in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions; they were noted as done by the military personnel of different military bases, which demonstrates the systematic character of violations as well as a gross disregard for international humanitarian law, and requires a severe response from international human rights and religious organizations, as well as law enforcement agencies of Ukraine and allied states.
