by Louisa Loveluck and Serhiy Morgunov
Bucha, Ukraine - Police found the body (click here) in an abandoned Russian military camp where occupying soldiers had sat around drinking wine, their laughter so loud that neighbors seethed as it echoed down Yablunska Street.
They had known for weeks that there was a body in the camp, yet another among so many corpses the Russians left behind. Overwhelmed crews picking them up simply hadn’t gotten to it yet. So no one knew it was Ivan Monastyrskyi.
His neighbor was the first to identify him, recognizing the unshaven face of a man who had watched his beloved street become a killing field. When his wife, Yulia, approached the body, her blue eyes froze.
There were bullet holes in his calves and his arms were stretched out at strange angles between slats of wood with nails through them. His wife looked at the thin sweater he was wearing and couldn’t help thinking how he must have been so cold in his final minutes.
Yulia’s neighbors heard her that night, inconsolable.
“What happened?” they heard her crying. “What did they do to him?”...
They had known for weeks that there was a body in the camp, yet another among so many corpses the Russians left behind. Overwhelmed crews picking them up simply hadn’t gotten to it yet. So no one knew it was Ivan Monastyrskyi.
His neighbor was the first to identify him, recognizing the unshaven face of a man who had watched his beloved street become a killing field. When his wife, Yulia, approached the body, her blue eyes froze.
There were bullet holes in his calves and his arms were stretched out at strange angles between slats of wood with nails through them. His wife looked at the thin sweater he was wearing and couldn’t help thinking how he must have been so cold in his final minutes.
Yulia’s neighbors heard her that night, inconsolable.
“What happened?” they heard her crying. “What did they do to him?”...
May Ivan Monastyrskyi rest in peace. May his wife find solace in his passing. He did nothing wrong. He was a victim of hate.
The 2016 Russian Yaravaya Law makes it illegal to be Christian. It is my guess Mr. Monastyrskyi tried to make friends with the Occupation Russians. Obviously, his wife did not know he was in the camp, so he probably approached them in hopes of finding common ground and welcome them to their neighborhood. Other Ukrainians have done that with the Russians and were mildly successful, especially with the young conscription soldiers.
The older Ukrainians didn't want the war, as far as they were concerned the lack of electricity and heat in the cold winter and the lack of water was a form of suffering and they believed if the Russians were allowed to take over at least they would have water and heat in their homes. They attributed much of their suffering to the younger Ukrainians that wanted to live within a democracy with economic vitality.
Both of these perspectives regarding the Ukrainian people were written in accounts I read and/or were videos of those waiting in line for water. There was on occassion a working hand water pump in the community, probably a farm where the animals were watered.
I am sure Mrs. Monastyrskyi was hoping her husband would return soon with some sort of resignation to the presence of Russians now.
A: Russia adopted a law (click here) making it unconstitutional to be a Christian, even though the (Russian) constitution says you are free to profess any faith. (The Yarovaya law increases regulation of evangelism, including a ban on the performance of “missionary activities” in non-religious settings.)
Based on this law, which is active right now, if you declare that you belief this or that or if you publically invite someone to church, of if you share an invitation to a Christian conference or service on facebook, sometimes even if you just attend church you will receive a huge fine or you can be jailed for up to 3 years. If you represent a church as a pastor or leader, then the fine is $1M rubles ($15,700) and up to 5 years in jail, if they can prove that you were promoting your faith....
Russia expelled non-profits some time ago. Recently, human rights groups were removed from the country. They coulc even be in jail or prison by now.
April 9, 2022By Mark Robinson
Under mounting international pressure (click here) for reported war crimes, Russia on Friday forced the closure of several prominent human rights groups' offices, CNN reported.
Driving the news: The Russian Ministry of Justice rescinded the registrations of 15 offices belonging to foreign NGOs and international aid organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace....
Driving the news: The Russian Ministry of Justice rescinded the registrations of 15 offices belonging to foreign NGOs and international aid organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace....
The march to war in Ukraine by Russia didn't happen overnight. Putin directed his military unexpectedly, but, the Russian government has been closing down freedoms and any alliances connected to any country that practiced freedom. It has been coming for some time. The more difficult the communists made the politics, the more and more Russia became a dictator state with plans for expansion.
19 September 2012
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (click here) has announced it will close its offices in Russia following an order from the authorities there to cease operations.
The Russian government gave the US until 1 October to close the mission, accusing it of meddling in politics.
USAID has worked in Russia for two decades, spending nearly $3bn (£1.8bn) on aid and democratic programmes.
The expulsion follows a government crackdown on pro-democracy groups....
USAID was not the only non-profit to be closed down by the Russian government.
Ukraine’s tangled political history with Russia (click here) has its counterpart in the religious landscape, with Ukraine’s majority Orthodox Christian population divided between an independent-minded group based in Kyiv and another loyal to its patriarch in Moscow.
But while there have been appeals to religious nationalism in both Russia and Ukraine, religious loyalty doesn’t mirror political fealty amid Ukraine's fight for survival.
Even though Russian President Vladimir Putin justified his invasion of Ukraine in part as a defense of the Moscow-oriented Orthodox church, leaders of both Ukrainian Orthodox factions are fiercely denouncing the Russian invasion, as is Ukraine's significant Catholic minority.
“With prayer on our lips, with love for God, for Ukraine, for our neighbors, we fight against evil — and we will see victory,” vowed Metropolitan Epifany, head of the Kyiv-based Orthodox Church of Ukraine....
March 1, 2022
By Peter Smith
But while there have been appeals to religious nationalism in both Russia and Ukraine, religious loyalty doesn’t mirror political fealty amid Ukraine's fight for survival.
Even though Russian President Vladimir Putin justified his invasion of Ukraine in part as a defense of the Moscow-oriented Orthodox church, leaders of both Ukrainian Orthodox factions are fiercely denouncing the Russian invasion, as is Ukraine's significant Catholic minority.
“With prayer on our lips, with love for God, for Ukraine, for our neighbors, we fight against evil — and we will see victory,” vowed Metropolitan Epifany, head of the Kyiv-based Orthodox Church of Ukraine....
