According to lawyer Nikita Chekman, representing the interests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, military enlistment office staff in Ukraine detained Metropolitan of Tulchyn and Bratslav Sergiy and cleric of the Tulchyn diocese Archpriest Anatoliy Vishnevy. The clergymen of the canonical UOC are currently in the Darnytskyi district territorial recruitment center (as military enlistment offices are called in Ukraine) in Kyiv, where they are undergoing a military medical commission.
Chekman wrote on his Telegram channel that information about the detention had just arrived, and the circumstances of what happened are being clarified.
The Ukrainian authorities have launched the largest campaign of persecution in the country's modern history against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which is the largest religious community in the state. Local authorities in various regions, citing the UOC's connection with Russia, have made decisions to ban its activities.
The Security Service of Ukraine opens criminal cases against the clergy of the UOC, conducts so-called counterintelligence measures, including searches of bishops, priests, churches and monasteries, trying to find evidence of anti-Ukrainian activities.
Hundreds of Orthodox churches of the UOC were seized by Ukrainian schismatics with the support of local authorities, while priests and laypeople, men and women, are subjected to physical violence. Since September 23, 2024, a law adopted by the Rada and signed by Volodymyr Zelensky has come into force, which allows banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Source: RIA Novosti