In Kremenets, OCU stages a body rally against the dead soldier’s will

In Kremenets, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, against the will of a fallen warrior, organized a rally with his body on January 4, 2024. Despite the deceased soldier, Vasyl Stetsiuk, being a member of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, activists pressured and took his body to the city square for a protest, as reported by the "Pershy Kozatsky" Telegram channel.

According to the soldier's will, who was a parishioner of the Intercession Church of the UOC in the village of Kushlyn in the Kremenets district, he wished to be mourned in his native church. Vasyl explicitly stated that in case of his death, no public farewell should be arranged on the Independence Square in Kremenets, as such events often turned into political actions involving supporters of the OCU. However, local "activists", to whom the soldier's widow declared his last will, accused her of "pro-Russian views" and claimed she "had no right to decide" how to handle her husband's body.

Despite efforts by honor guards to intervene on behalf of the woman, the "activists" compelled the coffin with the deceased's body to be taken to Kremenets and placed on the square.

During the rally, a chaplain of the OCU, facing away from the deceased, stated that the "hero's body is not the property of the wife, mother, or family."

"Pershy Kozatsky" undrscores, "They are not satisfied with the warrior's sacrificed life. They are not satisfied with the wife losing her beloved husband. Even after death, they cannot leave a Ukrainian Orthodox in peace. They need to use his body for their propaganda, for their cult. And most importantly, it turns out the family is totally helpless about it! The family's will, the hero's will mean nothing!"

As previously reported by the UOJ, in the village of Kremenets in the Volyn region, local authorities prohibited a UOC priest from conducting funeral services without approval from the village council.