Department for External Church Relations
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OCU' raiders use bulldozer to break down the door while seizing the church in Ladyzhin
DECR Communication Service, 09.01.2024.
Rector of the church of the Kazan icon of the Mother of God of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the town of Ladyzhin, Vinnitsa region, and two parishioners were brutally beaten during the seizure of the church by representatives of the OCU schismatic structure.
The Union of Orthodox Journalists reported that on 28 December 2023, the OCU raiders tried to seize the church after its fraudulent re-registration, but the parishioners managed to hold their ground. Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchin and Bratslav made a statement on the violation of religious rights and human freedoms in the Vinnitsa region.
However, at 5:15 am on January 9, some thirty raiders mainly in camouflage uniform cut off the locks and wormed their way to the territory. They brought two bulldozers and smashed concrete barriers that blocked the door; one of the bulldozers was used for breaking it down, and the raiders were inside.
The attackers beat Archpriest Yevgeny Vorobyov and two parishioners, who were on watch after the previous attempt of seizing, and frogmarched them into the yard without outdoor clothes. Women in the church refused to leave it by their own volition, and the raiders dragged them out through the sanctuary.
The invaders tore off electric wires and caused outage in the church house. They smoked and used foul language in the church territory. Parishioners who gathered at the church recognized a representative of a MKhP commercial company that earlier organized a meeting of the raiders in Ladyzhin for the “transfer” of the church to the OCU. “Priests” of the schismatic structure appeared, but the parishioners did not allow them to come near the church.
Some parishioners and the rector managed to enter the territory; the others were barred out by the police. People in camouflage shoved Fr Yevgeny over, and the police took him to an undisclosed location. According to mass media, he cannot be reached at the moment.
The parishioners cannot enter the church because some raiders closed themselves inside. The invaders are trying to provoke clashes by posting on social media that the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church do not let them out and asking their supporters to come to their aid.
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