Khodosovka, Kiev Province, Ukraine, December 13, 2023
Photo: spzh.news
Yet another Orthodox church has been violently seized in Ukraine, this time by members of the territorial defense, with the help of the police.
The defense representatives were following the orders of Alexander Drabinko—a former canonical hierarch who betrayed Christ and His Church to join the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” in 2018—when they seized the Church of the Great Martyr Paraskeva in the village of Khodosovka in the Kiev Province, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists.
The incident occurred early in the morning of December 11, when about 20 members of the territorial defense, with the support of police officers, seized the church and cordoned off the territory, rector Archpriest Nikolai Komarnitsky said.
The schismatics cut off the locks on the doors of the church and the Sunday School building and replaced them with their own.
Fr. Nikolai noted that the Orthodox community had a case against the schismatics that ran for more than a year in a provincial court, but was redirected to a district court last month.
“They thought the court would rule in their favor. But no, and that’s why they decided to seize the church. They didn’t even have any court permits to seal the church,” the rector said.
Alexander Drabinko is behind the seizure, Fr. Nikolai says, noting that he has repeatedly sent a fake priest to speak to the canonical priest. The schismatic cleric is responsible for seizing five temples in the Kiev Province already, and has threatened Fr. Nikolai and attempted to force $1,500 out of him.
The church is currently closed, though the schismatics are planning to hold a “service” there on December 17.
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