Touring raiders transfer churches in Zahaltsi and Myrcha to OCU

Touring activists Vozny and Hryshachov at work. Photo: Vozny's Facebook

Public figure Serhii Vozny, who was an associate of the former MP traitor Ilya Kiva before the war, and "lawyer" Ihor Hryshachov transferred two communities of the UOC in the Kyiv region to the OCU: the St. Nicholas community in the village of Zahaltsi and the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God community in Myrcha. These individuals, who have already conducted more than ten "transfers" in villages of the Kyiv region, were accompanied by the OCU "priest" Dmytro Koshka. Vozny published videos of the "meetings" on his Facebook page.

Although according to the statute of the religious community, only the rector can convene and lead the assembly, Vozny declared himself the head of the "assembly" at each of the meetings, and his assistant Hryshachov as the secretary. In both Myrcha and Zahaltsi, all events took only a few minutes.

Koshka announced to those present that they were "eradicating all Moscow spirits and doing a great deed" and thanked them "for reviving spirituality in Ukraine".

The UOJ contacted the rector of the St. Nicholas community in Zahaltsi, Hieromonk Serhiy Ivanina, who also took care of the community in Myrcha as the rector left with his family abroad at the beginning of the invasion.

The priest himself suffered a serious injury a few weeks ago and is undergoing rehabilitation after surgery. According to him, no one approached him about the meetings. Also, no one asked about the Statute and documents of the community. From the video footage from Zahaltsi, he determined that the majority of the people present there had no relation to the religious community. At the meeting in Mircha, there were only two or three regular parishioners.

Zahaltsi suffered greatly during the occupation. The premises of the St. Nicholas Church were destroyed by a shell. After liberation, the rector and the community had to pray in the open air. In Myrcha, there is an old wooden church that needs repair.

Earlier, the UOJ investigated the involvement of touring activists transferring churches to the OCU in criminal schemes.

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