Hundreds gather at Russian-linked church in Khmelnytskyi where Ukrainian soldier was beaten
Around 500 people have gathered near a Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) church in the city of Khmelnytskyi after a Ukrainian soldier was assaulted there. The UOC-MP said the church was being "stormed".
Source: Hromadske; Serhii Tiurin, First Deputy Head of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram; UOC-MP
У Хмельницькому біля храму УПЦ МП, де побили військового, зібралося близько 500 людей. Серед натовпу десятки поліцейських. Люди проломили ворота, зайшли на територію храму та вигукують: «Геть московського попа» pic.twitter.com/JkoHESVEZQ
Advertisement:— hromadske (@HromadskeUA) April 2, 2023
Details: A reporter from Hromadske reported that the church was closed and is being guarded by several guards. Dozens of police officers were among the crowd, as were 20 soldiers, including several from the 19th Separate Rifle Battalion – the battalion of the soldier who was assaulted earlier. His brothers-in-arms said he had been taken to a local hospital.
Viktor Burlyk, a member of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast Council, was the first person to report the demonstration. He shared a video from the church, which shows people holding flags and a poster that reads "The Moscow Patriarchate is a curse for Ukraine".
Ten young men and women climbed over the fence and entered the church’s territory; other demonstrators soon followed suit.
Акція під храмом УПЦ МП у Хмельницькому триває. В обласній адміністрації закликали знизити градус напруги та дати розв'язати конфлікт відповідним службам. В УПЦ МП заявили про штурм собору «радикалами», а інцидент у соборі — провокацієюhttps://t.co/E36MZruSDk pic.twitter.com/csQtMDCsaD
— hromadske (@HromadskeUA) April 2, 2023
Several priests are reported to be standing at the entrance to the church, surrounded by a number of athletic-looking men.
The UOC-MP said that "radicals" were storming the church, and that the incident that took place earlier was a "provocation". It claimed that around 50 Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) supporters and "radicals" had entered the church’s territory and were pushing church-goers and shouting "To hell with the Moscow pope!" The parishioners, meanwhile, "restrained the raiders", the UOC-MP said.
The UOC-MP also alleged that a "man dressed in military uniform attacked a priest of the Sviato-Pokrovskyi (Holy Protection) Cathedral in Khmelnytskyi, disrupted the service, and poured water on the holy Gospel book and damaged it in the presence of more than a hundred parishioners."
Dmytro Hutsaliuk, a local activist, said that a vote on whether the church would join the OCU was set to take place on Sunday.
Serhii Tiurin, First Deputy Head of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast Military Administration, urged everyone to "lower the tension and give the relevant services a chance to handle the conflict by legal means".
"I would like to remind everyone that we live in a civilised European country where the rule of law prevails. We are not Muscovites and we will not resolve conflicts the way that they normally do. We will resolve all conflicts in a legal and legitimate manner, as befits civilised people," he said.
Previously: A priest and believers assaulted a soldier in one of the churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) in Khmelnytskyi on the morning of 2 April.
Soon after news of the assault on the Ukrainian soldier was shared, Khmelnytskyi Mayor Oleksandr Symchyshyn said the City Council would vote to terminate the UOC-MP’s use of all land on the territory of the Khmelnytskyi hromada.
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