Lawyer: UOC temple in vlg. Ivankov being transferred to OCU

"Service" of the UOC KP near the UOC temple in the village of Ivankov

The “priests” who perform the “services” near the UOC temple in Ivankov village, Kiev region, with the aim of transferring the building to the OCU, are in fact the clerics of the Kiev Patriarchate. This was reported on Facebook by the staff member of Mogilnitsky and Partners Law Firm, Maxim Mogilnitsky, who provides legal protection for the community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

“Five to ten people regularly gather at the church and frantically imitate the service. Often – with the use of a sound amplifier. These pro-active gentlemen spare neither strength nor time, nor the electric power with a sole purpose of obstructing worships in the temple,” writes the lawyer.

Maxim Mogilnitsky, by his words, decided to check to which jurisdiction the “priests” belong, who gather at the doors of the UOC temple with loudspeakers, conduct their “prayers” and do not allow the Orthodox community to quietly have their worship services.

“The service of this shift is being performed by three so-called priests: Vasily Venglevsky, Vladimir Kovalsky and Maxim Kozachina. This trinity appears to be the servants of the OCU and in every possible way try to drag parishioners into a new structure,” the lawyer writes. “All three actually belong to the Kiev Patriarchate. Each leads the parish, and some even not one. For unknown reasons, they do not push their parishes to join the OCU. They do not even change the name for some reason. It says in black and white – "Kiev Patriarchate".

Maxim Mogilnitsky said he had sent to Filaret a lawyer's inquiry in order to clarify the jurisdictional affiliation of these individuals and received confirmation from the “patriarch”: “The fact that these citizens are rectos of the parishes of the Kiev Patriarchate is confirmed by Filaret. The answer to the lawyer's inquiry was signed by his hand. The same information is available also in the state registry."

Recall, Ivankov district court ordered the police to start investigating an offense on the fact of discrimination against believers of the UOC church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Ivankov on religious grounds. This was written on March 28, 2019 on the Facebook page by the managing partner of the Mogilnitsky and Partners law firm Maxim Mogilnitsky. According to him, the police, on the basis of the court decision, should investigate crimes related to preparations for the seizure of the UOC temple, as well as obstructing the conduct of worship.

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