Police use tear gas when seizing UOC Cathedral in Bila Tserkva

A law enforcement officer sprays tear gas towards UOC believers near the Transfiguration Cathedral in Bila Tserkva. Photo: UOJ.

The police officers who helped the OCU activists seize the Transfiguration Cathedral of the UOC in Bila Tserkva, as well as the activists themselves, used tear gas against the parishioners. This was reported to the UOJ by a believer of the UOC, who was a participant in the events.

He handed over a photo showing a police officer directing a jet of gas at parishioners standing on the outside of the cathedral's fence.

According to the believer, after the police used the gas, a representative of the OCU did the same.

As reported by the UOJ, the police of Bila Tserkva stated that they had "documented" a UOC priest who defended the cathedral from the invaders, who knocked out the doors with sledgehammers. The cleric is charged with Art. 173 of the Criminal Code, which provides for corrective labor, administrative arrest or a fine.

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