The rector of the Mikhailovsky church in the village of Zadubrovka, Chernivtsi region, priest Vitaly Durov, said in a comment to the Information and Education Department of the UOC about his parishioner, 63-year-old Vasily Khashchiyuk, whom 18-year-old young people beat to a pulp at night, March 13, 2021. The priest revealed the details of the terrible beatings and the situation around the conflict, which the OCU representatives, with the support of local authorities, have been stirring up in the village for two years.
“He is very good, calm, so it’s strange for me…, – Father Vitaly told about the victim. “Although, you know, relying on our experience, I can say that it is precisely these people that the devil takes up arms against, they suffer the most for the Church.”
The rector of the Zadubrovsky parish told the details about the terrible incident.
“We have about 35 people alternately in the church. Vasily Grigorievich is also constantly on duty in his time. In the morning he had to go to work, so the women let him go home to get him to sleep. When he was walking out of the temple, it was around half past midnight, he bumped into these guys, – he noted. “First, there was one guy on the road near the shop-bar, where certain companies constantly gather, and then he called five or six more, it seems”.
According to the abbot, the victim recognized the first guy. “And the other five … – now he is not in a position to talk a lot, but most likely these are the friends of the first one with whom he constantly goes. These are guys about 18-19 years old. They already became famous for their feat when they tried to seize the temple in May,” he continued.
Priest Vitaly Durov recalled that these young people earlier in their social networks proudly talked about the storming of the temple with the beating of the believers of the UOC.
“How can you go to the village now, how not to be afraid for your parents, wives, children? After all, “peace” and “love” of the OCU, which is capable of anything, and the words “do not beat them, but kill”, which sounded on May 4 during the storming of the temple in Zadubrovka, still sound in the actions of the “peaceful” adherents of the OCU”, – wrote Father Vitaly after the incident on the Facebook page.
The rector of the Mikhailovsky Church in his commentary recalled that during the entire conflict in the village, several criminal cases were opened. “But, unfortunately, the case of the violent seizure of the temple itself has not even been brought to court. As for the criminal cases that were opened regarding the beating of our believers during the storming of the church on May 4, they were brought to court and the guilty were sentenced: a suspended sentence and fines that they had already paid.
In his opinion, the local authorities are also to blame for the fact that for two years the conflict in the village has not died out, but is constantly fueled, which is trying to strengthen the division in the village on religious grounds.
“For two years in the village there has been a division into supporters of the UOC and OCU, and with the help of media resources and the authorities, this conflict is not extinguished, but only flared up. Even in such a banal issue as the election of the headman in a village, the chairman of the local community decided not to take responsibility, but suggested that two religious communities decide, odd as it may sound. Unfortunately, neither the regional nor local authorities are doing anything today for the peaceful settlement of this conflict.”
According to the clergyman, a police task force and an ambulance were called at night. The law enforcers accepted the statement and the results of the medical examination, indicating a concussion, facial hematomas and other severe injuries from beatings. Vasily Grigorievich is currently at home.