UOC priest saved hundreds of residents in Bakhmut

Cleric of the Gorlovka diocese, rector of the St. George Church in the city of Bakhmut (Stupki station), Archpriest Aleksey Polchenko, refused to leave his place of service and remained to help people. This was reported by the Information and Education Department of the UOC with reference to bahmut.in.ua.

A volunteer who helped the church in Stupki spoke about the activities of the priest.

“He said that he couldn’t do otherwise, because his parishioners are here, he served in the church for 15 years. He stayed for the sake of people, although he had the opportunity to leave more than once. I decided to go for such a feat, I fell under fire more than once, but God kept him alive, ”she shared.

During the entire period of Russian aggression, about 200 people lived in St. George’s Church.

“Some came, others left. Volunteers from the Red Cross helped us a lot, in Poland they raised funds for generators, the mayor also helped. Mats were taken from the school so that people could sleep, there was a stove, people were preparing food. Father Aleksey tried to create good conditions as far as possible. There could have been 20 arrivals on the territory of the temple a day, but there were no victims, ”said the volunteer.

According to the woman, the priest evacuated people in his own car under shelling.

The other day it became known that the Russians took out Father Aleksey and part of the parishioners of St. George’s Church from Stupok (a junction station in Bakhmut).

The last time Father Aleksey got in touch was on February 20, when he went to Slavyansk to take out people with children.

With the people who were taken out, now it is not possible to keep in touch. It is hoped that this will be done in the coming days.