Religion On Fire: WASR Field Group Expeditions in Kharkiv Oblast

Abstract

This article reports on the work of the “Religion on Fire” project’s field group in Kharkiv Oblast in the summer of 2023. The fieldwork group inspects Ukrainian religious buildings (e.g. temples, synagogues, mosques, etc.) which were damaged or destroyed by the war. The field group also collects information about Russian war crimes against Ukrainian religious organizations and communities. The article first describes the methods used by the field group to record damage and collect information from respondents, as well as lists the sources normally searched to uncover incidents where religious buildings were damaged or destroyed in Kharkiv Oblast. Second, the article describes the condition of religious structures of Kharkivshchyna which were inspected by the group during its summer expeditions. Third, there is an overview of other cases of damaged religious buildings in certain towns and villages of Kharkivshchyna which the field group has not yet inspected and considers future perspectives for continued fieldwork in Kharkiv Oblast. The article concludes with two lists. The first list consists of towns and villages of Kharkivshchyna visited by the field group during its expeditions and brief reports of the situation in which those localities found themselves in during the battle for Kharkiv and partial Russian occupation of Kharkivshchyna. The second list is a bead-roll of religious buildings of Kharkivshchyna inspected by the field group with brief reports of the time and circumstances under which these buildings were damaged or destroyed.