The Russian occupiers forcibly expelled from the captured part of Zaporizhia region a local priest with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Sviatoslav Peterskyi.
Propaganda resources first published the relevant report last month, reports Pershyi Zaporizhskyi.
“Sviatoslav Peterskyi is the archpriest of the Orthodox Church, an opponent of referenda. In his speeches, he justified terrorism and denied the results of the referendum on reunification with Russia. On October 18, the man became the first to be expelled from Zaporizhia region after the referendum,” the occupiers reported, arguing for their illegal and inhumane decision.
Despite the pressure from the Russian military, the clergyman, who enjoys authority among his parishioners, did not side with them and neither did he support the idea of a sham referendum.
“I lived almost 74 years with a single passport. Now, having lived to the point where I my hair turned gray, I don’t want to change it,” Peterskyi explained to the occupiers, writing a claim to the Russian government and refusing a repeated offer to receive a Russian passport.
It should be recalled that this is not the first time that the occupation administration has “deported” citizens who expressed their patriotic stance.
Propaganda media position this as “commitment to the criminal Kyiv regime”, “discrediting the authorities,” and “destabilization of the socio-political situation”. In particular, earlier, a resident of the village of Menchikuri, Veselivka district, was “deported” to the territory controlled by Ukraine.
According to Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov, terror and pressure in the temporarily occupied territories increased significantly after the pseudo-referendum was held.
“First of all, terror manifests itself in the new tradition of forcible deportations,” Fedorov said.
