In Kremenchuk, a UOC community was not allowed to enter their church due to a "sanitation day"
Police officers, together with an unidentified man, selectively allowed citizens onto the grounds of the Trinity Cathedral in Kremenchuk.
Police and unknown individuals locked the gates of the Trinity Church in Kremenchuk, despite public promises to allow believers to hold services. This was reported by the Trinity Church community's Facebook page.
Before the service began, the faithful held a religious procession and entered the church courtyard without hindrance to begin prayer. However, immediately after the Liturgy ended, the believers held another procession around the church and discovered that unknown individuals had locked all the gates.
Police officers were present on the church grounds. The law enforcement officers ignored the appeals of the faithful, refused to open the gates, and did not even approach the community. Instead, one of those present announced to the parishioners that a "sanitation day" had begun.
The faithful demanded an explanation for the blockade of the church, as the OCU's "rector" of the church, Feodosiy, had previously urged the community to come, pray, and hold services. "Why are the doors open for some people?" the believers ask. "Why have the gates been locked again for those who have prayed in this church for years?"
Later, parishioners observed police officers, together with an unidentified man, selectively letting some citizens out of the grounds and allowing others in. "We are not asking for anything excessive," the parishioners stated. "Our goal is to pray in our shrine, to hold services and religious processions, as our fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers did."
The UOJ previously reported that OCU representatives attempted to disrupt a UOC community service by summoning the TCC.
