OCU “bishop” paid to register draft dodgers as clergy

Kyrylo Mykhailiuk (right) with a companion. Photo: Mykhailiuk’s Facebook

The SBU has reported the exposure of a fraudulent scheme in which Kyrylo Mykhailiuk, the so-called “bishop” of the OCU’s Uzhhorod–Khust eparchy, sold certificates identifying draft-eligible men as priests or deacons of his eparchy.

“He organized the issuing of fake certificates of ordination as a deacon or priest to conscription-eligible individuals in exchange for payment, resolving their problematic issues with TRC employees by persuading TRC officials that they intended to mobilize individuals from among the OCU’s deacons or priests. The use of these certificates creates the false impression among staff of Territorial Centers for Recruitment and Social Support that these individuals belong to the clergy, which supposedly cannot take part in combat,” the ruling states.

After the fake certificates were issued, Mykhailiuk instructed that the new “clergy” be added to the eparchy’s website. According to the SBU, more than twenty men illegally received documents identifying them as deacons or priests.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to a former OCU cleric, the structure ordains even people who do not know the Creed.

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