Resident Of Bukovyna Burns Down Church Of UOC MP

A resident of one of the villages of the Chernivtsi Region burned down the church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP).

This was reported by the informational and educational department of the UOC MP, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

On the night of April 23 to 24, the church in honor of Saint Iov Pochaivskyi in the village of Milieve, Vyzhnytskyi district, Chernivtsi Region, burned down as a result of arson.

The Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Diocese notes that there are clear signs that the fire did not happen by accident, but was caused by deliberate actions.

The video footage shows that the church building is engulfed in fire from all sides at the same time.

The fact of arson has now been confirmed by the police.

Law enforcement officers conducted investigative actions and already detained the suspect, who turned out to be a 34-year-old resident of the village of Ispas.

The church in honor of Reverend Iov was built in Milieve after the previous church in honor of Reverend Paraskeva Serbska was transferred to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC KP) in 2004.

In April 2020, the suspects burned down the ancient church in honor of the holy martyr Paraskeva in the village of Lukavtsi.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the police refused to investigate calls for violent actions against priests of the UOC MP.

Metropolitan Onufrii of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (Orest Berezovskyi) and more than 20 clergymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate have Russian citizenship.