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Shalt Not Kill (Russia)

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Shalt Not Kill
Христиане против войны
Foundedmarch 2022
FounderChristian Vision (Belarus)
FocusAnti-war, Peace
Websiteshaltnotkill.info

Shalt Not Kill (Russia) (Russian: Христиане против войны) is an anti-war Christian initiative by the Christian Vision group. The initiative was formed in response to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

History

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Shalt Not Kill (Russia) emerged as one of the initiatives of the Belarusian Christian Vision group. Initially, it was a media group analysing the reaction of Christian communities in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other neighbouring countries to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The group's members studied the methods of Christian resistance in Russia to military actions; religious propaganda used to justify aggression; structural changes in the confessional landscape of Russia and Ukraine against the backdrop of military actions, etc.

Since persecutions were used against citizens who expressed disagreement with the actions of Russian troops, the group got engaged in human rights activities, in particular, monitoring cases of persecution of Christians for their anti-war views and organising assistance to them.

Activities

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The initiative maintains several monitoring lists:

  • Persecution of Christians by religious organisations and authorities for their anti-war position or support for Ukraine in defence against aggression[1];
  • killed clergy and church workers of Christian churches in Ukraine[2];
  • priests of the Russian Orthodox Church serving as chaplains in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation[3];
  • conscientious objectors to military service in Ukraine[4].

Various foreign media outlets have referred to these lists[5][6]. The monitoring is also used by Russian independent media to assess repressive practices in Russia against believers' anti-war views[7][8][9][10].

The products of the initiative's research have been used by local[11] and foreign[12] human rights organisations, as well as scholars[13][14][15].

Persecution and censorship

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The initiative's website was blocked in Russia on 9 September 2023[16].

The initiative's Telegram channel was added to the list of extremist materials in Belarus[17].

A criminal case was opened against one of the initiative's members in Belarus for giving an interview to the Belsat TV station[18].

Collaboration

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The initiative collaborates with grassroots confessional, interfaith, and secular initiatives in Russia organising anti-war protests and resistance actions, incl. the Christmas Declaration initiative, the Peace to All project[19], and the Feminist Anti-War Resistance.

References

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  1. ^ "Persecution of Christians by Religious and State Authorities for Anti-war Stance or Support of Ukraine in Defence from Aggression". Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  2. ^ "List of perished priests and ministers of Christian churches in Ukraine". Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  3. ^ "Священники РПЦ на фронте" (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  4. ^ "Украина: сознательные отказчики от военной службы по соображениям совести" (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  5. ^ "Они пострадали за "мир"" (in Russian). Euronews. 2023-08-14. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  6. ^ "Anti-war Russian clergy face punishment". Deutsche Welle. 2023-10-15. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  7. ^ "«Партизаню, как могу». Священники против войны" (in Russian). Север.Реалии. 2023-05-08. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  8. ^ "Патриарх Кирилл запретил в служении московского священника, который в молитве заменил слово «победа» на «мир»" (in Russian). Медуза. 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
  9. ^ "От джихада до молитвы за мир. Религиозные деятели Кавказа и юга России и война в Украине" (in Russian). Кавказ.Реалии. 2023-04-26. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  10. ^ "Как проповедуют антивоенные священники после изгнания из прокремлевской РПЦ" (in Russian). The Moscow Times. 2023-11-06. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  11. ^ "«Блаженны миротворцы». С чем сталкиваются христианские религиозные деятели, выступающие против войны" (in Russian). ОВД-Инфо. 2023-04-18. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  12. ^ "RUSSIA: Fled fearing prosecution for preaching that war is "terrible"". Forum 18. 2023-02-10. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  13. ^ Regula M. Zwahlen and Natalija Zenge. Silenced Dissent in the Russian Orthodox Church // Euxeinos. — 2023. — Vol. 13, No. 35.
  14. ^ Pavlo Smytsnyuk. The War in Ukraine as a Challenge for Religious Communities: Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Prospects for Peacemaking // Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Theologia Catholica Latina. — 2023. — Vol. 68(1).
  15. ^ Regina Elsner. Questioning the concept of ‘religious activism’ in Russian Orthodoxy from a theological perspective // Religion, State and Society. — 2023. — Vol. 51. Issue 1: Religious activism in Eastern Europe and beyond.
  16. ^ "Заблокированы сайты «Ковчега», «Московской хельсинкской группы» и Эстонского национального ТВ" (in Russian). Роскомсвобода. 2023-09-10. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  17. ^ "Как и за что теперь преследуют священнослужителей?" (in Russian). Весна (правозащитный центр). 2024-01-29. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  18. ^ "На участника нашей группы «Христианская визия» Дмитрия Корнеенко завели уголовное дело" (in Russian). Христианская визия. 2024-07-24. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  19. ^ Мир всем
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