Supporters of OCU seize "The Sign" Icon of the Mother of God church in Kyiv

The rector of the church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” in Kyiv, Archpriest Georgy Storozhenko, spoke about the seizure of the church by supporters of the OCU.

“Our temple is located in the territory of the 5th maternity hospital in the Solomensky district. With the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir Sabodan, I was appointed rector and lived here with my family for many years,” says Archpriest Georgy Storozhenko.

Three years ago, Dmitry Govseyev became the head physician of the maternity hospital, and with the outbreak of hostilities, Vladimir Tytykalo became his deputy. Also, his brother showed up at the maternity hospital, Roman Tytykalo, deputy of the village council of Fastiv, who was an active participant in the transfer of churches of the UOC to the OCU in the Kyiv region.

“From that moment on, the three of them first started campaigning about my transfer to the OCU. We agreed with the head physician that the church would be closed until the end of the war,” says the rector.

But this was not enough for the supporters of the OCU. People, who introduced themselves as police and SBU officers, conducted several searches in the temple – they inspected the altar, the living quarters, mobile phones, computers, and even the clothes and notebooks of the archpriest's children. The priest was interrogated and demanded to give the names and names of the benefactors.

“I didn’t name them and said that the temple was built ‘by joint efforts’, and our Primate Metropolitan Onuphry, together with the plentitude of the Church, will decide whether or not to leave for the OCU or another religious association,” says the priest.

The head physician continued to pronounce ultimatums and even grabbed the priest by the breasts, shook him and insulted him, demanding that he “get out of the church with his family.”

“Thus, the head physician of the maternity hospital Govseyev and two brothers Vladimir and Roman Tytykalo kicked me out of the church for objecting to the transfer to the OCU,” explains Archpriest Georgy Storozhenko. The rector's family packed their belongings, loaded them into cars and began to leave the territory of the maternity hospital, but the exit was blocked by radical submachine gunners, who poured insults and threats against the priest of the UOC. Only the prayers of the parishioners, who urged to release the priest, influenced the armed radicals.

“All these threats were real, not fcitional. The next day (March 24 – Ed.), believers among the representatives of the defense forces, who were witnessing the scene, said that only the family (mother and two children) became a pledge that I, as a priest of the UOC, was released alive. By the grace of God, I managed to take out the antimension of the temple and the liturgical utensils,” says the rector of the temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”.

On April 3, the OCU reported on “a voluntary transfer to the ranks of the schismatics of the first religious community of the UOC of Kyiv,” referring to the seized temple. The website of the structure published information that Epifaniy Dumenko met with representatives of the parishes of Kyiv, who “decided to follow the Tomos and join the local Ukrainian Orthodox Church.” The director of the Kyiv Maternity Hospital No. 5, Dmitry Govseyev, the mentioned Tytykalo brothers, as well as the “clerics” of the OCU, Bogdan Timoshenko and Grigory Foya, visited Epifaniy’s residence.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that OCU activists disrupted the service and seized the temple in Smila.

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