UOC priest to militants: My brother went missing at war – why aren’t you there?

Militants in balaclavas block the community's access to their church. Photo: UOJ

During the seizure of the Dormition Church in Dubivtsi, as activists and clergy from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) used crowbars to break the locks on the church doors, a group of young men in balaclavas stood at the gates, blocking priests and believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) from entering their place of worship.

When believers asked why the men were seizing churches instead of defending their homeland, the militants responded only with slogans: "Glory to the nation – death to the enemies!" and "Ukraine above all!"

"My brother went missing at the front two years ago. He was 27. And here you are, calling yourselves patriots," a priest said to the militants. But they responded only with shouts about "Moscow priests."

Earlier, the UOJ reported that in Dubivtsi, Bukovyna, people in balaclavas seized the UOC church.

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