Ukraine Continues To Discriminate Against Minority Religious Groups - US State Department

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd June, 2019) Ukraine's authorities have continued to discriminate against different minority religious groups throughout 2018, the US Department of State said in its annual report on international religious freedom published on Friday.

"In various regions of the country, minority religious groups continued to report discriminatory treatment by local authorities," the report said.

The State Department pointed out to local political observers' reports about pressure exerted on members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP).

"According to the UOC-MP, local authorities continued to transfer parish jurisdictions from the UOC-MP to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kiev patriarchate (UOC-KP) against the will of the parishioners," the report said.

The report also noted acts vandalism on Christian monuments, Holocaust memorials, synagogues and Jewish cemeteries throughout Ukraine.