Pirogovtsy, Khmelnitsky Province, Ukraine, August 4, 2022
Photo: news.church.ua
On Sunday, July 24, a group of Ukrainian schismatics, led by one of their “priests” and a local official, interrupted a Sunday service and violently attacked the priest and parishioners in an attempt to seize the church.
The scene unfolded during the Divine Liturgy at the Church of St. Paraskeva in the village of Pirogovtsy, Khmelnitsky Province, when a group of young people led by the head of the local regional council, Alexander Chernievich, burst into the church and started insulting the faithful, reports the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with reference to the Union of Orthodox Journalists.
The rector Archpriest Alexander Kravets asked to close the doors of the church to calmly finish the service, but the council head attacked and broke the doors. When the faithful came out, the schismatics dragged them away from the doors.
“I was attacked by a resident of our village,” said the parishioner Lyubov. “He pushed me and threw me, and I hit my head against the brick wall of the bell tower. I passed out.” She later learned that she suffered a concussion.
The schismatics also attacked her disabled son who tried to protect her. They “tied him up and dragged him out of the church.”
“But the most terrible thing was when they knocked over our priest and beat him as he lay on the ground… They beat everyone! It was like a horror film. I’ve never seen anything like it even in a movie,” Lyubov said.
Another parishioner, Taisia, was also injured when one schismatic punched her in the chest and another broke her nose. She also recalls seeing Fr. Alexander being thrown down the steps, his vestments torn, and his cross broken.
When she saw another woman being attacked, she appealed to the schismatic “priest” to “stop the slaughter,” but he only watched with joy.
Several other parishioners, mainly women, were also beaten and injured. When police arrived, they didn’t stop the brawl but simply stood back and watched.
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