RECTOR OF U.P.Ts. IN LVOV OBLAST TAKEN AWAY FOR QUESTIONING AFTER A BAG WAS PLACED OVER HIS HEAD
Interfax-Religiia, 15 April 2022
The Lvov diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UPTs) reported the details of an unprecedented attack on the church of the Pochaev Icon in the village of Verkhnyaya Yablonka.
On 10 April, during the performance of the liturgy by the rector of the parish, Archpriest Ilia Urusski, at the time of singing of the Creed, representatives of the government, accompanied by members of the new church of Ukraine (PTsU) and of the parish of Greek Catholics (UGKTs), entered the Pochaev church. They demanded that the worship service cease. The rector was dragged outside and the church was ordered closed. After negotiations the rector managed to get permission to take from the church building the antimension and sacred objects, the diocese reports.
Parishioners of the parish of the canonical UPTs were given threats: it was announced that the home addresses of all of them were known, and next week these people must appear for services in the parishes of the UGKTs or PTsU; otherwise "special measures" will be applied to them. The parishioners reached out for help to the law enforcement bodies but their statements were not accepted and the opening of a case was rejected.
Later in the evening, personnel of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) came to the rector's residence in the city of Drogobyche and took him by car to Lvov, after putting a bag over his head, the report states. The bag was removed in the room where the priest spent the whole night. Only at 11:00 o'clock the next day was questioning begun, during which Father Ilia was charged with a number of baseless accusations, the diocese emphasized.
The priest was accused, among other things, of arson of the church of his parish in the village of Verkhnyaya Yablonka, which, as it turned out, had been severely damaged by fire the night before, at the time the rector was in Lvov, to which he had been taken by representatives of the SBU. The Pochaev church was badly damaged. The fire damaged 90 square meters of the roof and the walls and items in the church.
On 11 April, at four o'clock, Father Ilia was released, the bag was again placed on his head, and he was taken to the bus station, from where he got himself home, the diocese related.
In addition to the Pochaev church, Archpriest Ilia Urusski also ministers in the Archangel Michael church in the village of Shandrovets, which also has been sealed by the authorities. (tr. by PDS, posted 15 April 2022)
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