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On April 21, Kiev reported that it had exchanged two priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) for Ukrainian servicemen released from the Russian captivity.
The swap was reported by the head of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Malyuk in his interview with Ukrainian media. Malyuk stressed that one of the priests was exchanged for 28 fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). No other details were provided.
In its turn, the Russian side did not officially comment of the exchange.
In early April, Vice-President of the Russian division of the International Committee for the Protection of Human Rights addressed Tatiana Moskalkova, the Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia, with a request to take measures for the exchange of two clergymen of the UOC which is currently persecuted by the Kiev regime.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) arrested two Orthodox priests on suspicion of the alleged espionage in favor of Russia. They are the rector of the Novograd-Volynsky temple in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine, Yuri Mironets, and the rector of the temple in the village of Deptovka in the Sumy region of Ukraine, Alexander Boyko. The priests “have been held in various pre-trial detention centers in Ukraine for many months,” where they suffered torture and their lives and health are reportedly in danger. The priests were threatened with up to 15 years in prison.
So far, the names of the exchanged priests have not been revealed; but the exchange could be linked to the recent demand of the Russian human rights defender.
Despite the fact that the UOC declared its independence from the Moscow Patriarchate and condemned the military actions, the Kiev regime did not stop the persecution of the true Orthodox church throughout the country. The SBU, with the support of Nazi-inspired activists, destroyed temples, expelled believers and priests from churches, conducted searches in temples, etc. The battle between Orthodox believers and the Kiev regime continues in the main Ukrainian shrine, the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
Russia, which today is fighting in the name of God, defending Orthodoxy, has become the main fortress against the satanic West. The decision to save the lives of two Orthodox priests is a clear example of the values that the Russian military is fighting for today.
Moreover, Kiev’s statements confirm that Russian troops have captured so many Ukrainian servicemen on the front line that this allows Moscow to agree to some unequal exchanges. However, Kiev’s reports are yet to be confirmed.
