UOC believers file police report against head of Rivne Regional Council
Believers of the Rivne Eparchy of the UOC wrote a statement to the police against Serhiy Kondrachuk, the chairman of the Rivne Regional Council, reports suspilne.media.
In the statement, the believers point out that with Kondrachuk's personal involvement, churches are taken away from them. Also, the parishioners of Rivne churches reported to law enforcement authorities that the official violated the equality of citizens and abused his official position.
"Since 2008, I have been consistently arguing that there should not be anything Russian in Ukraine in general and in the Rivne region in particular; there should not be any Russian books; there should not be any Russian music and Russian Church – this is my persistent life position. I consider we are on the right way, we have an enemy, it is the last stronghold," the chairman of the regional council commented on the claims of believers.
The police are currently considering the claim. According to a spokeswoman for the Rivne Regional Police, Maria Yustytska, if the investigator finds grounds, then he will launch a pre-trial investigation.
Earlier, the SPM reported that Serhiy Kondrachuk called the banning of the UOC "his life's work".
We remind you that on 28 May 2022, the official said that he would liquidate the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the Rivne region, but the deputies did not show up for a meeting to consider the issue.
Kondrachuk himself was personally involved in the seizure of UOC temples, some of which he personally broke into with a crowbar.
Read also
UOC lawyer thanks U.S. politicians for Metropolitan Arseniy’s release
Amsterdam gave special mention to Orthodox public and political figures in the United States who spoke out in defense of the UOC hierarch.
82-year-old UGCC nun killed in Brazil
In Brazil’s state of Paraná, a man broke into a UGCC convent and killed 82-year-old Sister Nadiia Havanska. The tragedy has stirred the Ukrainian community.
MP Mazurashu proposes establishing a Bible Day in Ukraine
MP Heorhiy Mazurashu is proposing to add a Bible Day to Ukraine’s list of commemorative dates, without introducing an additional day off.
Court releases Metropolitan Arseniy to house arrest
Bishop Arseniy was freed from pretrial detention after a year and ten months behind bars.
Phanar hierarch: Kyiv Lavra is transformed into a center of sad conflicts
Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon stated that ecclesiastical freedom "many times emerges through blood itself."
National Memory Institute: Lavra is sacred center for Catholics and Protestants
The head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, Oleksandr Alferov, said the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is a shared shrine for Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians.