Over forty days UAOC Kharkiv-Poltava Diocese will pray for newly-departed Valeria Novodvorskaya

Archbishop Ihor (Isichenko) blessed performing the funeral service for newlydeparted Valeria Novodvorskaya.

“It is with a deep sorrow that the Consistory of  the UAOC Diocese of Kharkiv and Poltava received the news of the repose of its well-known parishioner of the Holy Trinity community in Moscow, a prominent Russian human rights activist, a prominent representative of the Russian political opposition Valeria Novodvorskaya”, goes the statement posted on the diocesan website.

Opposition and public activist Valeria Novodvorskaya died on Saturday, July 12, in Moscow.

“All the faithful are welcome to join the prayers for the eternal repose of her soul”, calls the leader of Kharkiv-Poltava Diocese.

Valeria Novodvorskaya was born on May 17, 1950 in Baranovychi in Belarus. She graduated from the Foreign Languages Department of Krupskaya ​​Moscow Pedagogical Institute, and being 19 years old she was arrested for the first time on charges of anti-soviet propaganda. Since then, she was repeatedly detained and imprisoned and constantly persecuted by the Soviet regime, but never stopped her struggle for its overthrow.

“After Vladimir Putin’s coming to power Valeria Novodvorskaya systematically warned from sinking into a swamp of neo-Stalinism and sharply criticized the totalitarian tendencies in the development of her country. She unequivocally supported the ‘dignity revolution’ in Ukraine and strongly condemned the Russian aggression in Crimea and Donbas. She worried about the injured participants in a familial manner, and shortly before her death she gave a donation for treatment of the wounded in Kharkiv”, says the statement.

“Valeria Novodvorskaya’s repose is a deep personal loss for every Ukrainian. It was her courageous voice that gave us hope for the existence of the different friendly Russia, able to be close to Ukrainians in their trials. Her lifestyle was an example of establishing peace between Christian nations, an example of worthy following Christ in defense of justice, understanding the pain and needs of one’s neighbor,” the Diocese of Kharkiv and Poltava underscores.