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Said Ismagilov, Mufti of Ukraine who took up arms after his mosque in the city of Bakhmut was destroyed by Russian troops. Photo/Screenshot of the Ukrainian Embassy Facebook video
The Ukrainian embassy in Jakarta uploaded a video of Ismagilov wearing a camouflage uniform and carrying a rifle.
Between the wars, he recited Surah al-Fath from the Quran next to the mosque which had been destroyed by Russian troops with the occasional sound of explosions.
The mosque, which is located in the city of Bakhmut, was built by Ukrainian Muslims and is expected to be one of the newest mosques in eastern Ukraine.
Read also: Helping Russia, 300 Chechen soldiers deployed on the battlefield of Ukraine
According to the Ukrainian embassy, the crescent moon symbol on the top of the mosque’s dome was installed in January 2022. However, several months later, in May 2022, the Russian military damaged the mosque and destroyed the buildings and houses of the educational institution of local residents.
“Said Ismagilov is a religious leader from Donetsk, Ukraine, who was forced to leave his hometown due to persecution by the Russian occupation authorities,” the Ukrainian embassy said in its Facebook post on Tuesday ( 10/1/2023).
“He served as the Mufti of the Religious Affairs Bureau of the Muslim Community of Ukraine, UMMAH, for 13 years,” the Embassy of Ukraine continued.
But after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ismagilob left office and took up arms to defend his country.
According to the Ukrainian embassy, Mufti Ismagilov has often called on Muslims around the world to support Ukraine and encouraged Russian Muslims not to heed the words of President Vladimir Putin’s government and not join the war in Ukraine to kill innocent civilians.
Currently, Said Ismagilov is a member of the paramedic unit whose job is to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers who are stationed in the most intense fighting places.
The Russian military has not yet commented on reports of the destruction of the mosque. But Ramzan Kadyrov’s Chechen army, with a Muslim majority, is also fighting alongside the troops of Moscow.
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