At the base of Russian Guards’ Yevpatoria Battalion last month, a priest of the so-called UOC-MP (aka the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine) greeted the Russian guardsmen involved in the Russian military occupation of the peninsula.
The clergyman of the Yevpatoria church, ROCinU priest Anatoly Ponomarev asked the servicemen to remain faithful defenders of the Russian Federation.
That’s according to the press service of the ROCinU eparchy in Crimea.
“… Be faithful defenders of the Motherland (i.e. Russia – ed.). Never give up in the face of hardships but move forward without losing your fighting spirit. I wish you good health and God’s help in all good deeds,” said the Moscow Patriarchate official.
It is worth noting that in Crimea, the so-called “UOC-MP” has long ceased to be shy about being called the Moscow Patriarchate and has changed the signs hanging on their churches, informing parishioners of the shift. ROC officials in Crimea also provide comprehensive support to the Russian military occupiers and bless them to remain in the occupied territories.
In addition, in 2014, priests of the Crimean diocese of the so-called “UOC” took part in Russia’s military operation to capture Crimea. We earlier reported that in the occupied peninsula, a priest with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church “blessed” Russian troops “for military service.” The ministers of the said church blessed the weapons used by the Russian occupation forces, as well preached for “the expulsion of aliens who encroach on the Russian Federation.”
