In Zakarpattia, a previously mobilized UOC cleric arrested for desertion

Protodeacon Volodymyr Petrovtsiy. Photo: Espresso

On October 3, 2024, police arrested Protodeacon Volodymyr Petrovtsiy of the Khust Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He is accused of unlawfully leaving his military unit and evading mobilization, reports the Espresso.Zakhid website.

Journalist Vitaliy Hlahola reported that the UOC cleric, who is the nephew of Metropolitan Mark, fled from his military unit and was hiding in Zakarpattia. On September 20, he was charged under Part 4 of Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – desertion.

By court decision, Petrovtsiy will be held in custody without the right to bail. He faces up to 12 years in prison.

As previously reported, on June 22, 2024, a prayer request for Protodeacon Volodymyr Petrovtsiy, who had been mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine, was published on the Facebook page of the Khust Eparchy.

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