In Rovno region Filaret adherents start manhunt of the beaten UOC priest

A scandal involving a fight between a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and a representative of the Kyiv Patriarchate broke out in the village of Povcha in Dubno district of Rivne region. After the incident, the priest of the UOC appealed to the police and verified battery-induced injuries, yet the KP representatives accused him of initiating the fight.

"Russian world" in action: Today, on the day of the great feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, the priest of the Moscow Patriarchate in the village of Dubno district Povcha beat the priest of our eparchy Archpriest Alexander Timoshchuk,” wrote in Facebook Vasily Rudnitsky, spokesman for the Rivne eparchy of the UOC-KP. “Father Alexander came to Povcha to take his wife from school, where she works. The local priest of the Moscow Patriarchate showed his "brotherly love", leaving father Alexander without his tooth!”



According to representatives of the UOC-KP, the "victim" wrote a statement to the police, had the beatings verified and gathered a press conference.

The cleric of Rovno Eparchy of the UOC, Archpriest Vitaly Buga, does not deny his participation in a sudden fight, but he is amazed at the cynicism and outright lies of the UOC-KP representatives who want to justify their fellow believer by blackening the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

"The events that took place on August 28 at about 11 am had a very different chronology than the one presented by the representatives of the Kyiv Patriarchate," says father Vitaly. “After serving, I waited for the car to go to a neighboring village for celebrating the holiday, so when the car started to buzz around me, I turned and waved my hand. In response, from the slightly opened window, I saw the middle finger, which was shown to me by the priest of the UOC-KP, Alexander Timoshchuk. I went on foot and caught up with the car near the school, the father came out of it, so I asked him what signs he showed me through the window. Alexander Timoschuk began to speak rudely, pushed me, tore off the sleeve from the cassock, and a fight broke out between us, its result being reflected on my body, although I did not organize a press conference on this matter."

On the morning of August 29, after the lies and distortions that the representatives of the Kyiv Patriarchate used to discredit the UOC, Archpriest Vitaly Buga also appealed to the police for the verification of beatings and agreed to tell his version of the conflict to the media.