AFU soldier: 70% of my battalion are UOC members
Ivan Valevsky, an AFU soldier. Photo: a video screenshot of the Telegram channel "Dozor on ‘1Kozak’”
A wounded Ukrainian military man, Ivan Valevsky, came to Teofipol, Khmelnytskyi region, to support the community of the Church of St John of Kronstadt, which activists have illegally "transferred" to the OCU against the will of the parishioners. The soldier’s appeal was published on the Telegram channel "Dozor on ‘1Kozak’”.
The military man urged the UOC believers to remain faithful to their faith and not to defect to the OCU, where "the state wants to drive Ukrainians".
"I am a parishioner of the UOC, fighting since 2014. Now I am wounded, I am in the ranks of the AFU. I came to support Fr. Sergiy so that people do not go to the OCU, which I consider a non-canonical and not real Church. <...> What I am fighting for at the moment I don't understand myself. Although I understand that I said I was fighting for Ukraine, for its freedom, and its honour. But to take away the faith is not only ungodly, it is not human," he said.
Read also
Media shows conditions in which persecuted communities of Volyn have to pray
After their churches were seized, UOC faithful are compelled to pray in poorly equipped facilities.
UOC parishioner fined for comments about OCU in Rivne Region
The defendant fully admitted his guilt.
Ministry of Culture attempts to conduct inventory at Pochaiv Lavra
A monastery representative reminded officials that the Lavra fulfills its contractual obligations and uses the property for its intended purpose.
Cherkasy Prosecutor's Office demands seizure of UOC church in Horodyshche
The Cherkasy Regional Economic Court has initiated proceedings upon the prosecutor's lawsuit, with a court hearing already scheduled.
Reserve Director: Relics are exhibits handled by anthropologists
The Chernihiv Reserve's director assured that after the expulsion of the UOC community from the Trinity Cathedral, the relics of the saints have been registered as state property.
Chernihiv official: Nuns are deluded they will stay in convents forever
The director of the Chernihiv Reserve believes that the nuns are illegally residing in the convent and are "propaganda captives".