The faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate temporarily prevented a memorial service for a Ukrainian military man in a church in Chernivtsi by blocking the door and threatening people with fire extinguishers who tried to enter the church, a local publication reported on April 5. , corresponding Ukrainian Pravda.

An icon and a cross in front of the church in Khmelnytskyi Photo: Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Editorial/Profimedia

The mourners arrived at the church in Zadobruvka, a village north of Chernivtsi, and had to wait outside for an hour.

According to a parishioner quoted by Suspilne, believers of the UOC KP have documents to use the church.

A group of people tried to enter the temple from the side entrance, but they were met by three men and a priest, who tried to stop them with the help of fire extinguishers, writes Suspilne.

The group managed to break into the church and remove a crowbar that was placed on the main door of the church, allowing the mourners to pass with the body of the fallen warrior.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which was granted autocephaly (church independence) by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in January 2019, should not be confused with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Recently, Kyiv ordered the religious leaders of the Moscow Patriarchate to leave the premises of the Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv.

Several cities of Ukraine deprived the temples of the Moscow Patriarchate of their land rights or forbade them to continue worshiping.

Over the weekend, a priest and several believers from Khmelnytskyi beat a military man in one of the churches of the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate.