Attitude toward TRCs: When people united in support of a “Moscow priest”

Clash in Cherkasy. Photo: "Trukha Cherkasy" Telegram channel

On September 11, local and national media reported a sensational incident in Cherkasy: enlistment officers tried to seize a “Moscow priest,” but he fought back with a bag holding an axe and sprayed the “manhunters” with pepper spray.

The journalists, as usual, painted the UOC priest in dark colors: “Look, good people, see what these enemy agents are doing to our noble enlistment officers.”

But the reaction in the comments – both on news sites and social media – turned out to be completely unexpected. People almost unanimously sided with the priest, despite his belonging to the “FSB church.”

Here are a few examples:

• “Now this is a Priest with a capital P.”

• “God will forgive the priest! The enlistment office belongs in hell!”

• “He did the right thing. One must defend oneself.”

• “He’ll make a fine military chaplain.”

• “A holy axe!”

• “I’ve absolved him of his sins.”

• “Legend!”

• “They lie on purpose to make everyone angry at the clergy.”

So here we have two possibilities: either the government is failing miserably in its effort to incite hatred against the UOC – or Ukrainians’ dislike of the enlistment offices is simply too strong to be hidden.

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