Only those clergy of UOC who join OCU will be exempt, says MP
Dubinsky points out that clergy will receive military exemption in coordination with the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS).
The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers' proposal to grant exemption to the clergy is, in fact, aimed at encouraging UOC parish priests to join the OCU, while those who refuse will still be sent to the front, wrote detained MP Oleksandr Dubinsky on his Telegram channel. He was commenting on amendments to Resolution No. 76, which allows the exemption of all clergymen.
According to the MP, clerics will receive exemptions from conscription in coordination with the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience.
“Thus, the parishes that will move to the OCU will be exempt. And those who will not transfer will go to war. Those that do not will go to war. This will both improve the statistics and serve utilisation purposes,” he noted.
As reported by the UOJ, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine amended Resolution No. 76, allowing clergy to be exempt from conscription without restrictions on their number or requirements regarding their salary level.