Scandal in Volyn. The Moscow Church Did Not Allow to Hold a Funeral Service for the Warrior (photo).

In the village of Smolyari, they paid tribute to the fallen warrior

On December 16, in the village of Smolyari, Kovel district of Volyn region, a funeral service was held for the fallen warrior Vasyl Solodukha. He died in the area of the village of Mala Vovcha in the Kharkiv region. The parents decided that the service would be conducted by clergy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The only church in the village, which belongs to the UOC MP, was closed, so the memorial service took place at the church gate. This was reported by VolynPost.

During the funeral service, people who said goodbye to the Hero were getting drenched in the rain.

The funeral service was led by Archpriest Ivan Zelenko

According to the Volyn diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the funeral service was led by Archpriest Ivan Zelenko, the pastor of the PCU in Starovyzhivsk. 'We escorted the last journey of the hero warrior Vasyl Solodukha, a resident of the village of Smolyari. Eternal Glory to the Hero and the Heavenly Kingdom! Unfortunately, due to the decision of the local priest, we held the ceremony at the gate of the local church,' Father Ivan wrote.

Scandal due to attempts to influence the parents of the fallen warrior

What preceded the scandal was told by journalist Valentina Blinova, who published a post on social media. 'The greatest grief for parents is to bury their child. This is exactly the heavy sorrowful Time that the parents of the fallen Hero Vasyl Solodukha, residents of the village of Smolyari, are experiencing right now... But I accidentally learned from local residents that the village head Vasyl Kaminsky and a priest from the local village church, which does not belong to the Moscow Patriarchate, came with intentions to interfere. They tried to convince the parents to refuse to bury their son with the participation of the clergy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. They assured that if the parents refused, they would not be able to enter the church and light a candle for the peace of their son's soul,' Valentina Blinova wrote.

It is noted that the priest of the local church and village head Vasyl Kaminsky visited the parents a few days ago and tried to convince them not to have their son funeral service at the PCU.

The village head responded to a post regarding his participation in this situation: 'A post by Valentina Blinova appeared on social media stating that I interfered with the will of the parents of the fallen Hero of Ukraine Vasyl Solodukha! I want to officially declare! Our position is the will of the parents! The parents decided that the service would be conducted by the clergy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine! Their will is not subject to any discussion.'

Outrage of a serviceman over attempts to intervene

Serviceman Andriy Shustval of the 111th reconnaissance brigade also expressed his outrage. 'The parents of the fallen wanted their son to be escorted by a PCU priest. The local priest initially said that he would provide the church for the funeral service, but the next day he changed his decision and came to the family of the deceased to exert moral pressure and threatened them. I spoke with the father of the deceased, who told me that the priest said they would regret their decision. Father Leonid, what are we going to regret? When will the 'Russian world' come? Are you waiting for the 'Russian world'?'

It was also reported that another son of these parents is serving in the military. He came to the funeral of his brother.

Earlier in Bukovyna, UOC MP clergy refused to hold a funeral service for a fallen soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the village of Zadubrivka, they said goodbye to the fallen Hero Ivan Nazariy. But the body of the deceased was not allowed into the church of the Moscow Patriarchate for the funeral service, nor were those who came to say goodbye.

In the village of Chorna Tysa of the Yasinya settlement community in the Rakhiv district of the Transcarpathian region, the priest of the Holy Assumption Church did not allow the body of the young man Dmytro Spasyuk to be brought into the church before the burial.