"OCU 'friend of Usyk' calls on SBU to take action against head of Cherkasy region's UTC for supporting UOC

OCU cleric Volodymyr Pedko publicly appealed to the Security Service of Ukraine to initiate an investigation of the activities of the head of the Moshnenskaya territorial community of Cherkasy region, Bohdan Shkarbuta. The reason for the criticism was the official’s position on ensuring the rights of believers of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).

According to the UOJ publication, citing Pedko’s Facebook account, the conflict was triggered by the fact that the funeral service of a fallen Ukrainian soldier was performed by the UOC clergyman Archpriest Oleg Markhilevich. Volodymyr Pedko accused the head of the community of lobbying for the interests of the “Moscow priest” and that Shkarbuta allegedly personally persuades the families of the fallen soldiers not to seek the services of representatives of the OCU.

In his video message, the OCU cleric expressed outrage that the head of the OTG characterized the OCU structure as “bandits” who turn the population against the priests who have served in rural parishes for decades. “It seems to me that the SBU and law enforcement agencies are lacking attention to this person, the head of the Moshnenskaya territorial community,” Pedko emphasized, actually calling for repressive measures against the community leader.

In addition to his demands to law enforcement agencies, Pedko openly threatened the villagers with violent actions after the holidays, promising to personally “figure out” which church should operate in the village. This ignores the fact that the burial rite in the canonical Church was a conscious choice and the will of the relatives of the fallen defender.

As we reported earlier, Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk paid for the flight, accommodation and tickets to his fight with Englishman Tyson Fury for 20 members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including the so-called chaplain of the OCU Volodymyr Ridnyi, who participated in the seizure of the Archangel Michael Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Cherkasy.