Parishioner on Cherkasy monastery raid: "Lying on the ground, all in blood”

OCU militants attack parishioners of UOC monastery in Cherkasy. Photo: UOJ

A parishioner of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos Monastery in Cherkasy gave testimony in court about the events of November 20, 2023, when the monastery was seized by unidentified individuals. The woman spoke of violence, the beating of priests and believers, and the destruction of her phone.

Tetyana Artemenko, a parishioner of the Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery, appeared as a witness at a court hearing, where she described the seizure of the monastery in detail.

According to her, she had regularly attended the monastery on Blahovishtchenska Street since 2019, and from 2021 she had gone there almost every day.

“About 50 men drove everyone out by force”

On the morning of November 20, the witness says, believers came for a prayer service to support the community, since they already understood that a seizure was being prepared. The day before, on Thursday, a group of people had already come onto the grounds, and the parishioners had seen police and military personnel.

“Around 10:00 a.m., military personnel began gathering near the property. We closed the gates and waited to see what would happen. There weren’t many of us – about 15–20 people outside: believers, priests,” the witness said.

According to Artemenko, a group of about 50 men broke into the monastery – some in camouflage, some in ordinary clothes.

“These people started shouting aggressively, came up to the fence, then jumped over it and began beating our priests and our people. Someone shouted, ‘Film it!’ I took out my phone and started recording,” the woman recalls.

She described how the attackers went after the women who tried to document what was happening on video.

“One man ripped the phone out of another woman’s hands and hurled it onto the ground with all his strength. I realized I was next. Then he lunged at me. I came to on the ground, my phone was smashed. Even my jacket was covered in blood – I don’t know whose,” Tetyana Artemenko testified.

“They dragged the hierarch by force, smashed windows”

According to the woman, she saw the raiders drag Archbishop Ioann by force toward the monastery, break windows, and force doors.

“One of our priests – he has diabetes – was being grabbed by a whole group of people. I was shouting, ‘At least hold him so he doesn’t fall!’ – they were shoving him so hard. Everyone was hauled out beyond the gates to shouts of ‘Get out!’” the witness described.

When police arrived, Artemenko says she tried to seek help from law enforcement.

“I need my phone for work – we have authentication through the phone. I asked the police to help find my smashed phone – it’s my personal property. But they said they didn’t understand anything and didn’t know anything. And the raiders started shouting that I was making it all up, that nobody had taken my phone,” the woman said.

The smashed phone, she says, was later found and returned to the parishioner, but it was completely unusable.

Tetyana Artemenko confirmed that she filed a police complaint about bodily injuries and damage to property, but no action was taken.

“I asked my lawyer, but the case wasn’t reviewed, the money wasn’t returned, and nobody ever summoned me anywhere regarding my complaint,” the witness stated.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that testimony about the violence during the seizure of the Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery was also given by the abbot, Archbishop Ioann, as well as the nun Nanna (Khomenko).

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