Dumenko awards cleric involved in fake "transitions" and church seizures

Dumenko awarding Hryshchuk. Photo: a screenshot from the OCU's Facebook page

During a visit to Chernivtsi, Epifaniy Dumenko presented a gold cross to Roman Hryshchuk, a cleric of the OCU known for organizing fake transitions and participating in seizures of UOC churches, reports kozakTv1.

In particular, Hryshchuk took part in the storming of a church in the village of Verkhni Stanivtsi. At the time, the OCU cleric put on a hooded sweatshirt to remain unrecognized, but parishioners identified him. In the comments to the post about the award, believers suggested that Dumenko rewarded Hryshchuk specifically for organizing the seizures.

"Two peas in a pod: one has a crowbar, the other — an angle grinder," wrote Vitaliy Bodnarash.

"There is no longer any doubt that Hryshchuk is seizing UOC churches for a reward! He drives a fancy car!" wrote Yevdokiya Kovalenko.

"He probably gave him a new angle grinder and a crowbar," suggested Veronika Kozhokar.

As the UOJ reported, Roman Hryshchuk had previously staged provocations during funeral services for military personnel and sought to transfer a UOC church in Komarove to OCU administration. Church raiding, the practice of seizing Orthodox churches, has been recorded in various regions of Ukraine since 2018. The Chernivtsi region remains one of the areas where such incidents are of a systematic nature.

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