OCU Hierarch Calls for Eliminating or Exchanging UOC Clergy

Mykhailo Zinkevych. Photo: OCU

LUTSK, UKRAINE — At an event on January 29 marking the 118th anniversary of the Battle of Kruty, Orthodox Church in Ukraine (OCU) “Metropolitan of Volyn and Lutsk” Mykhailo Zinkevych delivered a speech calling for harsh measures against those he labeled “zhduny,” or people (explicitly including clergy) allegedly waiting for the arrival of Russian troops.

Zinkevych singled out figures he associated with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), noting that “these zhduny today walk around in cassocks,” and he proposed severe reprisals. “If we want to live, if you value your life—zhduny must be identified and, at the very least, treated in a Christian way—sent for exchange. If not eliminated, then sent for exchange,” he said, framing the remarks as a matter of national survival.

Turning to mobilization, the OCU "hierarch" condemned public resistance to Territorial Recruitment Offices. “It is a great disgrace when the Ukrainian nation fights the TRC. A disgrace,” Zinkevych declared, describing TRC employees as state-designated officials tasked with assembling an army to defend the country. He criticized those who oppose mobilization for undermining trust in authorities and promoting passivity.

Zinkevych outlined what he described as Ukraine’s unavoidable path. “The future of our state is a militarized state, and there is no other way out,” he said, urging society to change its attitude toward the state, its institutions, and those he accused of weakening patriotism from within.

Previously, the UOJ reported that UOC nuns were evicted from Baturyn Convent without a court order

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