In Kopytov an OCU raider threatens cutting the face of the UOC priest

An attempt to seize the church by supporters of the OCU in Kopytov village

As it became known to the UOJ, the police present at the incident did not respond to threats.

According to Archpriest Igor Vlasiuk, the rector of the St. John the Theologian parish, in Kopytov village of Korets district, Rovno region, during the seizure attempt by the OCU activists of the UOC church of St. John the Theologian on April 10, 2019, the inhabitant of Kopytov Vasily Silin began to utter the threat to the rector that “SBU will deal with him" and that his face would be cut.

The law enforcement officers who attended this, stated that they could not do anything because the activist "simply spoke up but did nothing," the rector said.

Recall that an attempt was made to seize the church by the OCU supporters in Kopytov village of Korets district, Rovno region. On April 10, 2019, supporters of the OCU came to the temple of St. John the Theologian in Kopytov village about 10 am demanding to give them the church. 

By that time, a large community of believers of the UOC had already been notified of possible raiding who were standing in front of the temple door, reading the akathist.

The police, who came on call, evidently sided with the activists of the OCU; the believers even heard that the head of the Korets district police department, Mr. Karpiuk, agreed with his subordinates the plan to push the believers of the UOC from the door of the temple.

As reported by the UOJ, representatives of the local administration were directly involved in stirring up an inter-confessional conflict in Kopytov village. The activists collected signatures in support of the transition of the St. John the Theologian parish of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to the new religious structure. It turned out that the signature collection was organized by representatives of the local administration, who by intimidating and manipulating offered villagers to move to the new church.

It will be recalled that the supporters of the OCU failed to persuade the UOC believers in the village of Kopytov to change the denomination despite the pressure and fibs the activists had resorted to in the village for two weeks. As it became known to the UOJ, the initiator of the interfaith conflict in the village was Pavel Sukhoy, an official from the Korets RSA.

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