UOC priest detained in Cherkasy region by TCC officers

In the city of Smila, Cherkasy region, employees of the Territorial Recruitment Center (TCC) detained the rector of the Church of the New Martyrs of Cherkasy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Father Oleksiy Lukash. According to preliminary reports, the clergyman, who was previously recognized as partially fit for military service for health reasons, was taken to a military commissariat and is currently not in touch.

According to the Telegram channel KozakTv, the clergyman was not allowed to pass the Holy Gifts before his detention. It is alleged that Father Oleksiy had previously undergone a military medical commission (MMC), which found him to be partially fit due to hypertension. Despite this, he was taken to the TCC in Cherkasy.

According to the source, representatives of the Cherkasy Diocese of the UOC were not allowed to hand over documents confirming the detainee’s holy rank. The rector’s wife was forced to call the police to get the opportunity to give him the necessary medicine for high blood pressure.

The report also mentions that Father Oleksiy was in charge of the parish of the Intercession Cathedral in Smila, which refused to transfer to the OCU after its former rector joined the OCU and the church was transferred to the new community.

Earlier, the head of the international human rights company Amsterdam & Partners LLP, Robert Amsterdam, who represents the legal interests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, called the cases of forced mobilization of the UOC clergy «religious repression.» Amsterdam noted that such situations are impossible in a truly democratic society.