Filaret annuls award to a military who appears to belong to LGBT community

The UOC-KP annulled the award to the military serviceman Viktor Pylypenko and accused him of lying after he claimed to have been awarded a medal by Filaret for belonging to the LGBT community. This was reported by the press service of the Kyiv Patriarchate.

This was the UOC-KP's response to a statement by the military serviceman on Facebook, in which he stated that "Patriarch Filaret took such a step and thanked him, an open gay and human rights activist, for protection."

In his post, the soldier also wrote that "the Kyiv Patriarchate has radically changed its position regarding LGBT+ people and no longer considers us 'sinful' and the cause of the coronavirus."

The statement by the military serviceman itself was called a lie and manipulation by Filaret, as well as an "attempt by dark forces to distort the consistent position of the UOC-KP."

"We thank the soldier Viktor Pylypenko for his military merits, but we do not share his sinful preferences and LGBT advocacy. We announce that due to the open propaganda of sinful ideology and denial of the existence of God, the church award to Viktor Pylypenko dated 08.02.2024, decree No. 27468, is annulled," the statement said.

As the UOJ reported, British media stated that there are about 50,000 LGBT soldiers in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.