Persecuted girl from UOC about bullying at school: "I cried every day"

A parishioner of the St. Michael's church in the village of Zadubrivka, Chernivtsi Diocese of the UOC Christina Veluschak. Photo: video screenshot from the page of the UOC Information Center on Facebook.

At the congress of the persecuted communities of the UOC "Faithful", which took place at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra on February 22, 2021, Christina Veluschak, a parishioner from the village of Zadubrivka, Zastavna district, Chernivtsi region, told Inter TV reporters about the attempts to seize their St. Michael's church by raiders from the OCU and her being persecuted at school, the Information Center of the UOC reports on its Facebook page.

The girl said that the organized attack of the OCU took place on the day when the rector of the UOC church, Father Leonid, died. She witnessed the events of May 4, 2020, when 40 mercenaries beat a handful of fellow villagers who defended her temple. “On the day our Fr. Leonid died, they came with grinders and cut off the locks. I saw with my own eyes all those people, I saw how our fellow villagers suffered, who were right under the doors when they were attacking. There were 40 mercenaries, they (the defenders of the temple – Ed.) were beaten brutally. Our lads were bleeding on the benches, while the OCU members said, ‘Don't just beat them but kill them’,” Christina recalls.

She also said that she had been persecuted for several years at school due to the fact that she is a parishioner of the temple of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. At the same time, the bullying took place with the tacit consent of the school administration. “I came to school and all the chairs and desks could be blemished with chalk. I didn’t share my desk with anyone, since no one wanted to sit with me because I go to the Orthodox Church. I cried almost every day; I would come and tell my mother: 'I can't take it anymore'," said the parishioner of the St. Michael's church of the UOC.

As the UOJ reported, the Primate met with Christina Veluschak, who was deprived of her graduation ceremony by the OCU activists.

Read also