Lawyer Speaks About Protestant Pastor Blessing the TRC

MARIUPOL, UKRAINE — As reported by UOJ-Ukraine, lawyer Sergei Kostyra has drawn attention to a video in which Mariupol pastor Gennady Mokhnenko expressed support for employees of Ukraine’s territorial recruitment centers (TRC) and their efforts to identify citizens subject to mobilization.

In the video, Mokhnenko addressed TRC employees who had stopped him, saying, “Guys, I bless you for your work.” He added, “Thank you for what you do, and I hope you catch many draft dodgers today.” Kostyra said Mokhnenko’s public support for the recruitment system contrasts with what the lawyer described as the pastor’s treatment of his own family.

“Gena Mokhnenko openly supports the actions of the TRC in his blog, but he hid his children and sons-in-law in the United States,” Kostyra stated. The lawyer further alleged that Mokhnenko acquired valuable property during the war in exchange for assisting military recruitment offices, including three plots of land in the Ivano-Frankivsk region registered to relatives who had emigrated abroad, as well as several apartments in western Ukraine.

Kostyra also raised allegations concerning Mokhnenko’s religious organization and its handling of suspicions of child abuse in August 2022. He claimed the organization’s leadership dealt with the matter internally without informing parishioners or other members who could have been at risk.

Previously, the UOJ reported that a UOC priest was sent to a military training center despite three health abnormalities.