UOC Hierarch appeals to authorities on the murder of a civilian in Gorlovka

Metropolitan Mitrofan of Gorlovka and Slaviansk

Metropolitan Mitrofan of Gorlovka and Slaviansk recorded a video message to President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, the Ukrainian military and the international community in the wake of the murder of a civilian in the Donbas on April 9, 2020. The video message of the hierarch is published on the channel of the Gorlovka Eparchy of the UOC on YouTube.

“Yesterday, on April 9, at 4 pm in Gorlovka, in the village of Shirokaya Balka at 166Plotinnaya Street, a flagrant criminal offense was committed: a girl of 26 years old by the name of Miroslava was killed by a mine from an unmanned aerial vehicle and Mikhail, 59, was seriously wounded. Miroslava was only 26 years old!” said the ruling bishop of the UOC diocese.

He said that the deceased girl was going to get married, "her groom brought her to the hospital in his car, but on the way she died from the wound." The second victim is currently in the intensive care unit.

“This is a great sorrow, a great tragedy,” the hierarch emphasized. “On this occasion, a lot of thoughts and questions arise which I would like to address, first of all, to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, President of Ukraine Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelensky. The first question is: what is common between drone mine shelling of houses of civilians and the defense of the territorial integrity of Ukraine? Such actions cannot be called other than a criminal offense. Such things always have the first and the last name of the person who did it, because the time and place where the crime was committed are known. As the supreme commander in chief, you have the power and opportunity to ask a question to those who were at this time at this place, on whose orders and by whom this action was carried out.”

According to the Metropolitan, people have been living in Gorlovka for six years in this horror, “but every time such killings take place, the question arises again and again: how long is it going to continue?”

“You call the people who live here as citizens of Ukraine. Is it possible, just like this, with impunity, without trial, to commit such a crime as if it were a computer game? I would personally like to hear from you an assessment of what happened,” the Metropolitan said, adding that the funeral was coming soon and I would also like to hear condolences to the relatives of the deceased and “to all those who have been in this horror for a long time.”

Since the shelling does not stop, Vladyka also asks to answer the question of when it will all end and what these shellings and the continuation of hostilities are for, “after all, with every such death and such tragedy, there is a feeling that peace rhetoric will remain only a lip service and peace will never come.”

“Who will take responsibility for stopping the shooting and such horrific deeds?” the hierarch requests.

He also asked “whether an investigation team will be formed, an investigation will be scheduled, and whether we will hear the answer to the question of who gave the command and who committed this criminal offense? I wish we heard the names of these people and they were held accountable for what they did.”

“I appeal to those people who have done this. Regardless of whether or not your names are voiced, they are known to God, and you will have to answer for everything in life, you will have to live with it. The best thing would be to acknowledge and repent of what you have committed. Only through repentance there can be some change in your life. And I would like, first and foremost, those people, who continue to live in fear that this may happen to their near and dear ones at any time and any day, to hear from you what has been done so that this does not happen anymore. Who controls this situation? Who is responsible for ensuring that such drones do not take off and, as in computer games, do not drop mines on the homes of people who have nothing to do with hostilities? These are civilians who live their own lives, and at any moment they can be killed only because someone wanted to, and no one will even answer for it,” said Metropolitan Mitrofan of Gorlovka and Slaviansk.

In the photo gallery – photo of Miroslava Vorontsova, who died in Gorlovka, from social networks.

As reported by the UOJ, earlier Ukrainian MP Vadim Novinsky said that the current common disaster with the pandemic is a unique time to end the senseless war in the Donbas.

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