AFU soldier calls to protect UOC monastery from desecration by authorities

A soldier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stood in defense of the UOC monastery in Kniazhychi. Photo: Pershyi Kozatskyi

Following the attempted takeover of the Transfiguration Monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Kniazhychi, Kyiv region, a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleh Hryhorchuk, stepped forward to defend the monastery, declaring that believers must not allow the sacred site to be desecrated. This was reported by the Pershyi Kozatskyi Telegram channel.

In his public appeal, he stressed that the monastery is a spiritual home for innumerable Orthodox Christians. He shared that he volunteered for military service from the first days of the war, and that his path into Orthodoxy began precisely in the monastery of Knyazhychi.

“I am from Zhytomyr region, but my path to Orthodoxy began in Kniazhychi – and I will be faithful to the Orthodox faith always, to my last breath. My heart is torn and weeps over what is happening now – as if in a dream...” he wrote.

The soldier noted that at the front he always prayed and always remained under God’s protection. He called on the faithful to shield the monastery from profanation.

“Today these people come into the monastery, smirking maliciously, wanting to take what does not belong to them. All faithful Orthodox Christians, do not let this holy place be trampled by the foot of an internal enemy. Please, protect it! If there is no Orthodox faith, if there is no Ukrainian Orthodox Church – there will be no Ukrainian state,” the Telegram channel quotes Hryhorchuk as saying.

As the UOJ reported, the brethren successfully defended the monastery from seizure in Kniazhychi. The state registrar had planned to bring in security forces and expropriate the monastery from Orthodox Christians. The monastery’s attorney stressed that all the officials’ actions were unlawful and illegal.

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