OCU members trying to seize temple in Zabolotye are one fifth of UOC'

St. John the Theologian church of the UOC in Zabolotye, which supporters of the OCU are trying to seize. Photo: UOJ

The OCU community in the village of Zabolotye, which was set to take away the church of the UOC according to a raider scheme, is several times smaller than the religious community of the UOC, the UOJ correspondent reports.

On May 23, more than 150 believers of the UOC traditionally came to Zabolotye to pray in the open air. They settled down, as always, near the temple, set up a tent in case of rain.

On the other side of the temple, representatives of the OCU community gathered for their service. According to the testimony of the villagers, for the first time during the conflict, they saw this religious community praying.

“We came to the service at 9:00, first there was Liturgy, then moleben and lity for the dead,” says Vitaliy Matsyuk, a parishioner of the UOC in the village of Zabolotye. “People from the OCU came at 12:30, but already at 13:20 they dispersed. I don’t know what they served, because we didn’t come close so as not to provoke. ”

However, supporters of the OCU were photographed and counted just for the for the record and evidence for the trial, which is to be held on June 24 in the city of Vladimir.

“There were 45 of them, and not all of them were from Zabolotye, 15 came from the neighboring village of Balakhovichi,” comments Mikhail Gnidko, head of the religious community of the UOC in the village of Zabolotye.

As the UOJ reported, during the seizure of the church in Zabolotye by the activists, ten UOC believers were injured.

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