Yelensky: Church seizure is a matter for the local, not central, government
In an interview with a journalist from an American publication, the head of DESS, Viktor Yelensky, distanced himself from the situation involving forcible "transfers" of UOC parishes to the OCU.
The American Conservative published an article titled "Ukraine's Two Wars", authored by independent journalist Flavius Mihăies, about the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) by the Ukrainian authorities. During his investigation, the journalist spoke with Viktor Yelensky, Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Affairs and Freedom of Conscience (DESS).
Flavius Mihăies expressed his concern to Viktor Yelensky over church properties being forcibly transferred from the UOC to the OCU.
"This is a matter for the local government," Yelensky explained to me in his office in Kyiv. "The central government was not involved," the journalist quotes the official in the article.
As previously reported by the UOJ, the American media published an article on the persecution of the UOC by the authorities.
