Coincidence? Why Lavra opponents keep ending up in court
Onyshchenko is a prosecution witness for the SBU in the case against human rights activist Viktoria Kokhanovska, who defended the Lavra.
Prosecutors have charged one of the leading activists behind protests against the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra with fraud. According to investigators, the self-styled magician Veliar, whose real name is Bohdan Onyshchenko, allegedly swindled a substantial sum of money from the mother of a seriously ill child. This is not the first case against him: police had already opened a fraud investigation involving Onyshchenko this summer.
What is Veliar known for?
Throughout 2023, Veliar was the main organizer of anti-Church protests outside the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. He demanded that the monks leave the monastery and make way for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU):
“We want the canonical Ukrainian Church of Metropolitan Epifaniy to be here [at the Lavra – Ed.]. And you are a noncanonical church.”
His activities culminated in a blasphemous mock funeral for the UOC. Veliar wore a mock panagia shaped like a pentagram bearing an image of Baphomet and a mock bishop's miter depicting Satan. During the staged memorial service, he swung a censer over a “coffin” marked “Cargo 200.” He then recited a blasphemously altered version of the prayer of absolution that priests read over the deceased, inserting obscene language into the text. At other protests outside the Lavra, he openly tore up and trampled icons.
One point deserves particular emphasis: Onyshchenko is a prosecution witness for the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in the case against human rights activist Viktoria Kokhanovska, who defended the Lavra. In other words, he was the one presenting the “correct” version of events surrounding the monastery in court.
In 2023, he also received the “Pride and Glory of Ukraine” award from Stefanchuk. And that raises some questions.
For an entire year, this man put aside his other activities and regularly traveled to the monastery to stage blasphemous provocations. At the same time, he openly cooperated with the SBU and received an award from the speaker of Ukraine's parliament. How likely is it that Veliar and his team's protests outside the Lavra were driven entirely by personal enthusiasm?
And there is more. Another high-profile activist involved in the Lavra protests, Arina Arieva, daughter of Ukrainian lawmaker Volodymyr Ariev, recently received a suspended sentence for hitting a young woman at a pedestrian crossing. She now faces the possibility of serving time in prison.
Mykhailo Holovko, the former head of the Ternopil Regional Council, who threatened to expel the monks from the Pochaiv Lavra, was convicted of corruption.
And these are just a few names that come to mind among the anti-Church activists.
Of course, these are all coincidences. But rather troubling ones.
