"Glory to the nation! Death to the enemies!": OCU chaplains organized a pilgrimage to Athos for military personnel

At the end of November 2024, a group of pilgrims, including OCU chaplains and members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, visited Holy Mount Athos. While traveling through the monasteries of Athos, those who took part in the pilgrimage shouted nationalist slogans and took photos with the state flag of Ukraine. This is reported by the UOJ with reference to the YouTube channel “DRM News”.

It is reported that a group of 22 Ukrainian soldiers, including the wounded and those who suffered from participation in hostilities, visited the monasteries of Athos. The trip of more than 1000 km was part of a psychological support program aimed at rehabilitating war veterans. The OCU chaplains participated in the trip along with the military. The published video shows how in one of the cells of Athos the Ukrainian delegation shouted “Ukraine above all!”, and at the end of the trip, in the port of Uranopoulis (located on the Athos Peninsula), the pilgrims chanted several times “Glory to the nation! Death to the enemies!”.

As reported, on May 14, 2024, during a conference on the “Project for the restoration of the first Ukrainian-speaking monastery on Holy Mount Athos,” representatives of the OCU announced a fundraiser for the construction of their monastery on Mount Athos. The OCU plans to create the “first Ukrainian-speaking monastery on Mount Athos” on the basis of one of the abandoned cells of the Pantocrator Monastery, which was transferred to the Ukrainian side in 2022. It is reported that the OCU will be taking Ukrainian military personnel there for rehabilitation.