In Vinnytsia, TRC officers forcibly sent a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to a training center

The Vinnytsia Diocese reported the forced detention and transfer to a training center of Archpriest Vitaliy Karpus, a cleric of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who also serves as a lawyer for the diocesan administration. The incident occurred after the priest voluntarily visited the military registration and enlistment office to update his registration information, which sparked public outcry. This was reported by the Vinnytsia Diocese of the UOC on Facebook.

According to the diocese’s statement, on June 25, 2026, Father Vitaly, in compliance with the law, arrived at the training center in response to a summons. Despite passing a military medical examination, the priest was not allowed to return home. Around midnight, he was forcibly taken to a training center in the Haisyn district, where he was deprived of the ability to communicate with his loved ones after his cell phone was confiscated. The diocese emphasized that the medical commission ignored the clergyman’s complaints about serious health problems.

The Vinnytsia Diocese noted that the Church’s canonical rules, specifically the 83rd Apostolic Rule and the 7th Rule of the Fourth Ecumenical Council, explicitly prohibit clergy from performing military service, defining ministry at the altar as incompatible with military activity. Representatives of the diocese called on the authorities to respect the archpriest’s legal rights and release him, and urged the faithful to pray fervently for the priest.

As a reminder, we previously reported that an incident occurred in the Rivne region in which officers of the Territorial Recruitment Center detained Archpriest Vadim Mulyar, a cleric at the Pokrovsky Convent of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.