Bishop Baryshevsky Victor (Kotsaba), Head of the Representation of the UOC to European International Organizations, commented on the seizure of a church in the village of Zabolotye, Rivne region (Sarny eparchy of the UOC).

“1. Participants in the seizure of the temple were recruited in a vibe group. That is, these people have nothing to do with both the temple itself and the religious community that gathers in the temple.

2. The locks on the church were cut off, which can already be incriminated as a violation of the current legislation, and representatives of the Orthodox community are simply not allowed inside the church.

3. The people’s representatives took part in this illegal case, who, according to the Constitution of Ukraine, must equally treat representatives of all confessions. In addition, those who must keep order – representatives of the “municipal guard”, took an active part.

Given these facts, questions arise: is this the “principles of freedom of conscience”, which the high representative of the country from across the ocean spoke about (US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, – ed.), or is it “removing obstacles” on the way to these “principles”? In the case of affirmative answers to these two questions, it becomes obvious that the “obstacle” is the UOC itself. And this “obstacle” is really serious and big, because today the Ukrainian Orthodox Church remains the largest confession in Ukraine,” the hierarch writes.