Expert on raids: Violence against UOC undermines Ukraine’s national security

Natalia Vasilevich. Photo: Euroradio
Belarusian opposition human rights advocate and religious scholar Natalia Vasilevich commented on the recent seizures of Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) churches in Bukovina. Sharing a video statement from a soldier in Verkhni Stanivtsi about the criminal actions of OCU cleric Hryshchuk, the rights defender said such incidents undermine Ukraine’s national security.
"Now it’s coming from every iron: every day, there’s another church seized with thugs and power tools. Nothing is undermining Ukraine’s national security, its identity as a democratic and legal state, and its future more than this local violence," Vasilevich wrote.
According to her, the Ukrainian authorities are no longer capable of controlling the violence against the UOC:
"At first, I thought the state simply didn’t want to interfere. But the truth is, it no longer can."
"When a state cannot protect its citizens from bandit groups and cannot stop these groups, it ceases to exist as a state altogether," Vasilevich stressed.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that in Verkhni Stanivtsi, the OCU, with the help of police, seized a UOC church.
Read also
Volyn Eparchy faithful collect six tons of aid for Sviatohirsk Lavra
Believers in Volyn collected food and warm clothing for people displaced by the war who have found shelter at Sviatohirsk Lavra.
Trump: "Paris is going to be a Muslim city very soon"
Donald Trump blamed uncontrolled immigration for street protests in France, warning that Paris would soon become a Muslim city.
Dumenko: Jerusalem Church is wrong to refuse communion with us
Dumenko claimed that the OCU, like the Apostle Paul, is standing up against the errors of the Jerusalem Church and other Local Churches.
Ukrainian parliament registers bill to establish Bible Day
Lawmakers have proposed establishing Bible Day to strengthen moral values and preserve the country’s spiritual heritage.
Dumenko: Pochaiv will be ours, and Sviatohirsk Lavra is no Lavra
The OCU head called Pochaiv Lavra the Russian Orthodox Church’s “last stronghold,” predicted that circumstances would eventually allow its transfer, and rejected Sviatohirsk Monastery’s status as a lavra.
Metropolitan Victor offers condolences to families of shelling victims
The ruling hierarch of the Khmelnytskyi Eparchy expressed condolences to the families of those killed in the Russian attack on Khmelnytskyi on October 19.