Law enforcement in Crimea block the church of Kyiv Patriarchate

31.08.2017, 13:20
In Crimea, on the morning of August 31, Russian secret services blocked the church of St. Equal-to-the-Apostolic Princes Olga and Volodymyr of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate in Simferopol. Archbishop Klyment of Simferopol and Crimea of the UOC-KP reported it to Krym.Realii

In Crimea, on the morning of August 31, Russian secret services blocked the church of St. Equal-to-the-Apostolic Princes Olga and Volodymyr of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate in Simferopol. Archbishop Klyment of Simferopol and Crimea of the UOC-KP reported it to Krym.Realii

According to the archbishop, he is not allowed into the temple.

“At 10am, the enforcement broke into the church, broke the premises of the first floor, the doors of the altar on the second floor were broken, access to the believers was blocked. No arguments that the territory of the first floor belongs to the administration of the diocese in accordance with the lease agreement, are heard. They show some court decision that oblige the Religious Center to evict from the premises, although the diocesan administration of the has not hosted the Religious Center for more than two years,” he said.

Director of the state-owned enterprise “National newspaper and magazine publishing house” Andriy Shchekun told Krym.Realii that the property of the Ukrainian church in Crimea has been spoiled.

"Locks are broken, the barbarians have broken into the temple, destroyed the altar, confiscated the icons,” Shchekun said.

The enforcement service has not yet commented on what is happening.