To become a military chaplain, a clergyman must leave the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This was stated by the chairman of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, Viktor Yelensky, on the air of the national news telethon, the UP edition reports.

Being a military chaplain “from the Moscow Patriarchate is impossible according to the law,” says Yelensky.

“I know several military chaplains who once served in the Moscow Patriarchate. But in order to become a military chaplain, they must leave the Moscow Patriarchate,” he added.

At the same time, according to the head of the SSEFC, the Ukrainian army lacks chaplains.

“The Ministry of Defense and the General Staff want these people to acquire the necessary skills: they could at least unload their weapons, launch an armored personnel carrier” and have medical knowledge,” the official said.