On November 20, everyone was shocked by footage of a completely bandit seizure of a monastery in Cherkasy. So banditish that even outspoken supporters and propagandists of the OCU are at a loss.
Dissenters from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), together with militants from Azov and the National Corps, forcibly seized the monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in Cherkasy, believers and the governor were expelled from the monastery, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists.
On November 20, a group of bandits in camouflage stormed the UOC monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. Moreover, the word “bandits” is not an exaggeration at all. They simply beat the priests and parishioners in an outrageous manner: they broke jaws, knocked out kidneys and simply maimed them. Phones were smashed on the asphalt. Ambulances took the beaten people to the hospital, one of them was in very serious condition.
The UOJ publication published photographs and videos claiming that the raiders broke the lower jaw of the monastery’s priest, Priest Sergius Pashchenko. Later, the police blocked the entrance to the city hospital where the beaten priests were taken.
What caused the capture
On November 18, 2023, in the monastery in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Cherkasy, under the chairmanship of the abbot of the monastery, vicar of the Cherkasy diocese, Archbishop John of Zolotonosha, a meeting of members of the religious community was held: clergy, monastics and parishioners of the monastery.
On the agenda was the issue of the canonical and administrative status of the monastery. The unanimous decision of the community was the confirmation of its subordination to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, headed by its primate – His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine and the Holy Synod of the UOC.
The minutes of the general meeting of the religious community were signed by more than 300 people – faithful children of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, permanent parishioners of the monastery, the publication reports Siberian Journal of Journalists.
Just a day later, on November 20, a group of raiders dressed in camouflage came to the monastery and broke into the monastery premises. At the same time, participants in the raider seizure were prohibited from filming their actions on smartphones, apparently so that the information would not go beyond…
The invaders began to beat the believers. The raiders broke the lower jaw of the monastery priest, Priest Sergius Pashchenko.
Cherkasy. This crowd of “believers” from the OCU seizes the monastery with impunity, maims people, takes away phones and smashes them on the asphalt. The police facilitate the seizure.
About the behavior of the monastery invaders from first-hand accounts. Now there are 150 people in military uniform in the temple. Four defenders of the monastery were injured. The police break and beat people, helping the raiders.
Monks and parishioners of the UOC Monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary were kicked out of the monastery fence. There are dozens of raiders from the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the territory. According to information from the scene, they are already dividing the property of the monastery among themselves. One of the minibuses was requisitioned allegedly “for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine” and allegedly “with the consent of Archbishop John.”
People in military uniform, claiming to be representatives of the National Corps, blocked all entrances and exits from the Third City Hospital in Cherkasy. It was to this hospital that UOC believers who were beaten during the seizure of the Monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary were brought. According to available information, representatives of the National Corps do not even allow doctors into the premises. No one has access to the beaten believers of the UOC.
One of the invaders of the UOC monastery in Cherkasy was identified online
He turned out to be a former Azov fighter, a member of the political council of the National Corps and an active soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Dmitry Kukharchuk. The published footage shows how Kukharchuk is one of the first to climb over the fence of the UOC monastery, after which he pushes away UOC believers and punches them in the face.
“I was there at a prayer stand after they had already captured the monastery. It’s horrible! The bullies are laughing and running around the monastery territory. I was scared, honestly! I cried and prayed, I was afraid to look at them,” said one of the UOC believers who defended the monastery.
The photo shows one of the “victorious heroes” who, after beating the priests, organized a riot in the next cell. These shots were taken by “patriotic” publications in Cherkassy (the UOC believers’ cameras and phones were simply broken), which warmly approved the seizure of the “Moscow” monastery, not being ashamed to add that they allegedly “found Russian propaganda literature” there.
“Representatives of the national corps broke the windows in the refectory of the monastery and got inside, knocked down the entrance doors from the inside. They began to walk through the monastic cells, knocking down the doors. According to the abbot of the monastery, Archbishop John, they threatened him, demanding money and some kind of “gold.” The nuns living in the monastery thrown out into the street, behind the gate, writes Siberian Journal of Journalists.
“One of the priests, Priest Sergius Pashchenko, who raised his hands to cover and protect the believers from blows, people in military uniform began to punch him in the face. He is now in the regional hospital in the department of maxillofacial surgery. He was given an x-ray, which showed a fracture of the lower jaw in two places,” the diocese reported.
According to Fr. George, later people in military uniform surrounded the parishioners on four sides – those who did not resist were not touched, and those who tried to defend themselves were beaten.
“The doctors recorded a displaced fracture of 74-year-old Oleg Slobodyanyk, who was also beaten by the military. Deacon Sergius Isaenko was also injured. After he tried to protect the parishioners, people in military uniform hit the man with metal scissors. Doctors recorded a laceration on his arm. Reader Vyacheslav Korkots was hit on the head, which is why doctors recorded severe bruises and a concussion,” writes Siberian Journal of Journalists.
People’s Deputy on the seizure of the UOC monastery in Cherkasy: the authorities have gone too far
According to Artem Dmitruk, the authorities gave the raiders who attacked the Cherkasy monastery guarantees of immunity and permissiveness.
The Ukrainian authorities will not be able to hide from the international community the crimes committed during the seizure of the monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Cherkasy. People’s Deputy Artem Dmitruk stated this in a video message. He noted that the people in military uniform who seized the monastery acted with the active support of the police, while “priests and believers were beaten with particular cruelty, after which the attackers blocked the local hospital, where the victims were receiving medical care.”
“Today our people united to repel Russian aggression,” the deputy said. – The best children of Ukraine pay with their health and lives for freedom and independence. And at the same time, healthy and strong raiders chose the path of robbery. They are strong, armed, in military uniform, and they are fighting against their own people. They are supported by the authorities. Moreover, she gave them guarantees of inviolability and permissiveness.”
According to the parliamentarian, what happened in Cherkasy “is an attack on faith, the rights of citizens and the Constitution of Ukraine, this is a systematic activity to destroy Orthodoxy in Ukraine.”
“People are being deprived of the opportunity to go to churches that they built and maintained at their own expense. A newly created “patriarchy” is imposed on them, in which there is neither holiness nor truth. Its creators are destroying the Ukrainian Orthodox Church without thinking about God and faith. Their goal is not the salvation of souls, but the seizure of property, enrichment and receiving preferences from the authorities,” Dmitruk emphasized.
The People’s Deputy noted that when traveling abroad, Ukrainian officials talk about rights and freedoms in Ukraine and “shamefully remain silent about violations of these rights with the full approval of the state.”
“After today’s banditry, there will be questions. Every official at the press conference will blush at these questions. But it will no longer be possible to ignore this event. The government has gone too far in violating the rights and freedoms of its citizens,” the deputy said. He emphasized that raiding shrines “under the guise of war is a betrayal of millions of believers” of the UOC, including “thousands of believers who are at the front and defend our state.”
***
It became known that law enforcement officers are putting pressure on the injured defenders of the Cherkasy monastery. Threats are of different nature. Young men, for example, are intimidated by mobilization, making it clear that they will not return home from the front. Doctors are also intimidated. In particular, the doctor diagnosed a domestic injury to one of the victims and only after communicating with lawyers indicated the correct diagnosis.
***
But how many such Cherkasy have there already been? The capture of the cathedral in Ivano-Frankivsk using tear gas, the squeezing of the cathedral in Lviv, the assault and capture in Shepetivka, the knocking out of doors in the Bila Tserkva Cathedral with a sledgehammer and much, much, much more. In all these cases, Dumenko, in response to mass disturbances, either rewarded the invaders, or simply remained silent, using the Shkiryakov formula “they stink and calm down.” But no, Seryozha, they won’t calm down.
People are not cattle, they see everything and draw conclusions. And no lying court media will help. If you act like a bandit and not a shepherd, if you build your religious empire on violence, grief and tears, then as soon as the winds of political change blow, you will fall loudly. And we do not wishful thinking. This was clearly stated 2000 years ago. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Heavenly Father,” said Christ. Let us ask ourselves the question: are the seizures, beatings, expulsion of parishioners and nuns the fulfillment of the will of God or not? The answer is obvious – no.
“And anyone who listens to my words, but does not fulfill them, can be compared to a fool who built his house on sand,” continues the Savior. “It rained, the rivers overflowed, the winds blew and fell on this house, and it collapsed, and its fall was great.” Just like about the current situation. The OCU empire is already falling. The sound of the fall just hasn’t reached us yet…
From the editor. Cherkasy, my small homeland, and the lawlessness happening there weigh heavily on my soul. In addition to what has been said, I would like to ask you to show these photos and videos to those of my fellow countrymen and Greeks who said that “the OCU is a benefit for Ukraine.” Let them look at this “good” and understand who and what they support.
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