OCU "cleric" beats up UOC priest in Rivne region

On March 20, 2023, on the grounds of St. Michael's Church in the village of Shkariv in the Hoshcha district of the Rivne Eparchy, a "priest" of the OCU beat a UOC priest, reports the press service of the Rivne Eparchy.

The incident happened after the rector of the church, Archpriest Serhiy Suprunets, decided to check what was happening in the church, which, as he learned from parishioners, was open and had people in it.

At 7 p.m. the priest came to the temple, which, according to the agreement between the UOC and OCU communities, should be closed with two locks. "I came, and indeed there were people in the temple, cleaning. The temple was dressed in all black, and Calvary was placed in the middle of the temple, it is obvious that they are preparing for the service," Father Serhiy said.

According to him, a car drove up to the temple, out of which people got out and started calling him names. "And then Viktor Herasymchuk, a 'priest' of the OCU, came running in and started beating me, pounding my chin and face with his fist," the UOC priest said.

As earlier reported, OCU raiders ripped off a UOC believer's finger with a crowbar in Yurkivtsi.

According to Father Serhiy, supporters of the OCU barely dragged their mentor away because he was ready to continue fighting.

"I shamed him with words, but what could I do, I am alone, there are many of them, the church is in the middle of a field, it is about one kilometre from the village," the victim noted.

When the clergyman returned home, his relatives called the police. The defenders of law and order took statements, and on March 21, Father Serhiy went to the Hoshcha police station, and from there to Rivne to document the beating.

Viktor Herasymchuk, an OCU "priest", serves in the village of Ustye in Korets parish, and lives in Shkariv. He is one of the initiators of the church conflict in the village, which began more than a month ago after a meeting on the so-called 'transfer'.