Nun from Cherkasy monastery about raiders: They had completely wild eyes
Nun Nanna gave testimony in the Cherkasy court about the events of November 20, 2023 – the day of the violent seizure of the Nativity of the Virgin Monastery.
ICherkasy court hearings continue on the case of the seizure of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos Monastery of the UOC. Witness testimonies were given by Archbishop Ioann, vicar of the Cherkasy Eparchy and abbot of the monastery, as well as nun Nanna (Khomenko), who had resided in the monastery since 2020. Video of the testimonies was published by the Telegram channel Cherkasy_Blagovest.
"They rushed at the men in an organized manner"
Nun Nanna detailed the events of Monday, November 20, 2023. According to her, the monastics were at their obedience when they were called outside with the words: "We are going to be seized."
"I went outside and saw military men entering our street from the intersection. They were marching in formation, four abreast. The ranks kept growing and growing. Everyone was in military uniform. The commander was walking at the front,” the witness recounted.
On the senior's command, the attackers skillfully jumped over the fence. "They rushed at our men in an organized manner. Everything became chaotic. I approached, pleaded, shouted: 'Don't touch them, don't do that!'" the nun testified.
"They were brutally beating one with their feet"
The nun described the attackers’ brutality: “I turned around and saw that near the altar one man was being beaten with kicks. He was being beaten severely, not just pushed. It happened on the grounds behind the church, beneath the altar area. They knocked the man to the ground; I didn’t see his face – he was shielding himself with his hands. They say it was Deacon Dmytro.”
The raiders tore off the locks on all the buildings – the sacristy, the residential house, the basement, the garage. “They started breaking down doors and then smashing windows – that was the refectory. Someone was shouting, ‘Don’t break the windows, don’t!’ From the back, the doors of the church were already being broken down, and people ran inside. Chaos began,” the witness recalls.
"Their eyes were deranged"
What especially shocked the nun was the attackers’ state. "What can I say... This surprised and shocked me to the depths of my soul – they had deranged eyes. I got the impression that if there had been corpses there, they would have climbed over the bodies. Such wild eyes they had," nun Nanna recounted.
According to her, the raiders behaved with extreme insolence: “We had chocolate for sale in the icon shop – they were walking along the corridor eating that chocolate, acting brazenly. I saw them putting on our bishop’s vestments. On the second floor we had an icon corner – they were taking selfies there, such brazen guys, clearly under the influence of alcohol.”
The nun tried to take out her belongings: "I took my vestments and carried my things out to the yard amid shouts and mockery. It was impossible to talk to them - they wouldn't engage in conversation. Such a wild attitude, as if we were some kind of fascists or something."
Testimony of the monastery abbot
Archbishop Ioann, who has been the monastery's abbot since 2012, also gave detailed testimony. According to him, 16 people lived in the monastery – monks and nuns.
"The day began as always with prayer. On Monday we served the monastic rule. Life went on as usual, the cooks prepared food. But we didn't get to eat, because people in military uniform began approaching the monastery," the bishop recounted.
"The assault began. They climbed over the fence, cut the locks. The two of us – me and Mother Sophronia – were grabbed by the scruff of the neck, thrown out of the gates, and locked out,’ the bishop testified
Rudeness and violence
"Bishop Ioann described the behavior of the attackers: 'They behaved simply rudely. Rudely, with obscene language. They used force. Mother Sophronia and I were the first to be thrown out. We resisted, but they acted very roughly. They swore obscenely, broke windows, smashed doors, and began breaking everything.'"
"I shouted: 'Don't break it! There are keys here, don't break the locks!' They smashed windows, broke everything in the refectory. And then they took the church," the abbot recounted.
Illegality of the August 10 gathering
The archbishop stated that the actions of the attackers were illegal. He cited document falsification as the basis for this: "The documents stated that meetings were held on the territory of our monastery on August 10. This is not true. None of the monastics living on the monastery grounds confirmed this. No meetings took place at our address."
“If we had lived somewhere else, and not on this territory – then maybe. But we lived here. The sisters lived in the monastery – they would have known about these gatherings. But no one knew anything. At our address, there were no gatherings,” emphasized the bishop.
Nun Nanna confirmed these words: “I don’t remember anything like that. If there had been any gatherings, people would have been notified somehow. And we live there all the time – these gatherings would not have passed us by. There was no such occasion.”
Real community meeting
At the same time, witnesses spoke about an actual meeting of parishioners that took place before the takeover. “There were gatherings of our parishioners right before the takeover, where we testified that we did not want to switch. We are against the transition; we remain with His Beatitude Onuphriy,” said Nun Nanna.
“There were a lot of people. It was, I think, still a working day. People came later and regretted very much that they couldn’t attend these meetings. They also wanted to testify to their belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. There were many people, and priests were present,” she added.
Archbishop Ioann also confirmed: “There were religious meetings, though I cannot give the exact number right now. But the meetings did take place, and they were announced in advance orally. A notice about the gatherings was written on the sermon board. Our parishioners came, and the monastics living on the monastery grounds were present. These meetings were held, and everything was recorded. There were many people – almost a full church.”
Sermon of Metropolitan Theodosiy
Both witnesses confirmed that on January 7, 2024, on Christmas, Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv came to the monastics who had been expelled from the monastery.
"The metropolitan came to us for evening service. We thought he would come for Christmas, but it turned out he came for Vespers. He came to support us. The pastor came to offer words of encouragement, give guidance, and deliver a sermon,” said Nun Nanna.
“We realized that we were not abandoned by our pastor,” she described her impression of the sermon. At the same time, the nun categorically denied any calls to aggression: “No, no, there was nothing like that. There was no targeting of any actions. No surnames or names were mentioned. It was a Christmas-related sermon, about how we should endure these misfortunes. Our Lord also endured suffering; He was persecuted.”
According to the nun, Metropolitan Theodosiy “calmed us. He said that as the Lord Himself endured suffering, we too must endure it calmly and not become embittered.”
Fate of the monastics
After the monastery was seized, the monastics found themselves on the street. “Evening was falling. Where should we go? What should we do? Who would take me in, and where? It was unclear. And we were told very clearly: get out, leave,” recalled Nun Nanna.
Archbishop Ioann spoke about the community’s subsequent fate: “We were waiting for instructions from our hierarch, because we didn’t know what to do. We were left without housing; apart from the monastery, we had nothing. We had to decide where to go. People took us in. But you can only stay as a guest for three days, and then… We were waiting to see where to go next, where the monastic community should go.”
"The parishioners dispersed to other churches. The elderly monastics who had their own housing or children in Cherkasy went to their children. And the majority moved to Zolotonosha, to the Krasnohirsky Monastery, to live at the skete. I also reside there," the bishop said.
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that OCU representatives seized a UOC monastery in Cherkasy.
