Kremenets, Ternopil Province, Ukraine, September 19, 2023
Photo: news.church.ua
Yesterday, September 18, the authorities cut off the electricity supply for the nuns of Holy Theophany Convent in the Western Ukrainian Ternopil Province.
Several employees of the local power supply company came to turn off the power, leaving 80 nuns, many of whom are elderly, in the dark, reports the Information-Education Department.
Earlier this month, the nuns warned about the threat of the illegal closure of the monastery, after which the police surrounded the holy habitation and attempted to evict all its inhabitants.
Although the buildings and territory of the monastery have remained under state control, as is typical in post-Soviet Ukraine, the nuns have spent the last 32 years repairing and maintaining the property at their own expense. But now the state has decided that the Ukrainian inhabitants are unwelcome and is trying to force them out.
The head of the local power supply company earlier warned the nuns that the electricity would be cut off, but Abbess Demetria reminded him that the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine announced on March 5, 2022, that it is illegal to cut off energy as long as martial law remains in place.
However, as is the case throughout Ukraine, the authorities blatantly violate the law and governmental orders in order to persecute the Ukrainian faithful of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!
