Assumption of the Blessed Virgin

It is common for the occupation forces to disappear the people they seize, sometimes for months at a time, leaving fellow-believers, relatives, and friends uncertain if they are still alive. Torture is also a common experience of many who have been seized. In a case where a priest refused to join a Russian-controlled body, Fr Kostiantyn Maksimov served as priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate’s (UOC) Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the city of Tokmak in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Region. Russian occupation forces detained Fr Kostiantyn in May 2023, and refused for more than 10 months until March 2024 to give any information about where he was being held or if he was still alive. Artyom Sharlay, the head of the Russian occupiers’ Religious Organisations Department at Zaporizhzhia สล็อตเว็บตรง