The Eparch of Kharkiv and Poltava of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Archbishop Ihor (Isichenko), called Christians of other denominations to jointly pray for the young men who were sentenced by the Zaporizhzhia Court on December 12 for damaging the monument to Stalin, reported the website of the Kharkiv and Poltava Eparchy of UAOC.

The young men who had the courage to take down the monument to the tyrant were sentenced to two-three years of imprisonment with a deferment of the punishment. Archbishop Ihor called the sentence a challenge to all the Orthodox organizations of Ukraine and called democratic parties to express their due attitude to the sentence and do something concrete to ensure the acquittal of the young men.

“We cannot allow this resonant case to be buried in the depth of the post-Communist justice system,” the archbishop stressed in his address.

According to Archbishop Ihor (Isichenko), every family in Ukraine suffered from Stalin’s regime. Therefore, Christians have no right to put up with the rehabilitation of totalitarianism.

“The monument to Stalin is not a sign of farewell to the tragic past but a symbol of hope of its return, which hope the owners of the monument associate with their party’s coming to power,” stressed the archbishop.  

“I am proud that the convicted young men include parishioners of the Kharkiv and Poltava Eparchy. All the churches of the eparchy have been praying for justification of the innocently sentenced Roman Khmara, Oleksii Zanuda, Vasyl Abramiv, Yurii Ponomarenko, Vitalii Vyshniuk, Anatolii Onufriichuk, Pylyp Taran, Vasyl Labaichuk, Eduard Andriushchenko. I am asking Christians of other denominations to join this prayer,” reads the statement of Archbishop Ihor (Isichenko).