Employees of the shopping mall of the city of Khust, Transcarpathian region, under pressure from believers, released two priests of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, obliging them to appear at the military enlistment office later. This was announced by Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Artem Dmitruk, who defends the interests of the UOC.
“Fr. Vasily and fr. Stepan is free! Thank you to all the believers, all the residents of Khust and the village of Isa, who participated in the liberation of the priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Today we have shown that we can unite for the sake of our clergy, for the sake of other members of the Church,” Dmytruk writes in his telegram channel.
According to him, the phone numbers and documents were returned to the priests.
“Father Stepan, who is a cleric of the Odessa diocese, was given 3 days to leave the Transcarpathian region, and was also obliged to appear at the Odessa Shopping Center in 3 days. Fr. Vasyl was obliged to appear at the Khust Shopping Center exactly one month later… I would also like to ask all Ukrainians to pay attention to this case. When we unite, the fascists will not defeat us! And this case is the most revealing!” — the deputy summed up.