Belarusian human rights defender Natallia Vasilevich commented on the seizure of UOC churches in Bukovina

Belarusian human rights defender and religious scholar Natallia Vasilevich expressed concern about the seizure of Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) churches in Bukovina, noting that these actions could seriously harm Ukraine’s national security. She also published a video message from a serviceman from Verkhnia Stanytsia, who commented on the bandit actions of the OCU “priest” Hryshchuk.

“I remember times when Ukraine was one of the ‘good examples’ of the post-Soviet space, demonstrating how it is possible to uphold the right to freedom of religion, even in a complex and conflictual situation, maintaining peaceful coexistence of different denominations, even those in conflict,” said Vasilevich.

“Now, from all sides, we hear about church seizures, ‘titushky’ and angle grinders. Nothing undermines Ukraine’s national security, its identity as a democratic and legal state, and its future more than violence on the ground,” she added.

The human rights defender emphasized that at first, she thought the state simply did not want to intervene in such processes, but now it has become clear that state authorities are unable to influence them.

“When the state cannot protect its citizens from bandit groups and cannot stop them, it effectively ceases to exist as a state,” she concluded.

Earlier, we reported that after an unsuccessful attempt to seize the St. Nicholas Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Verkhnia Stanytsia, Chernivtsi region, the scandalously known OCU “chaplain” Roman Hryshchuk, who led the raider operation, complained that the rule of law does not operate in Ukraine, and supporters of the OCU are forced to enter ‘their churches’ by force.