UOC сleric: Is any official a collaborator if there’re traitors among them?

The spokesperson for the Rivne Eparchy of the UOC, Archpriest Viktor Zemlianoy, called the UOC priests "very patriotic people who care about their people and their state”. It is reported on the website of the Rivne Eparchy”. That is how the clergyman commented on the accusations of collaborationism made against the UOC priesthood in some media.

For example, he suggested looking at the situation of officials in Ukraine and in the occupied territories. "For example, the Rivne RMA has a large staff of officials, and the same officials, their colleagues, live in the occupied territories. Most of them are traitors to Ukraine, this has been documented. Collaborating officials work with the enemy – so now, will officials from the Rivne RMA, based on the treason of their colleagues from the east, also be counted among the ranks of collaborators?" Father Viktor asked.

He gave another example – teachers who "went to Russia for retraining to learn how to teach with Russian textbooks in Ukraine for our children. But should all schools in Ukraine be closed because there are collaborators among the teachers somewhere? "In the Donetsk region, how many law enforcers defected to the side of the enemy, who demined minefields in the Kherson region so that Russian equipment could enter the territory of the region? The answer is the head of the Security Service of Ukraine gave such an order. And how many traitors are there in the AFU? But it does not mean that all the Armed Forces are not patriotic," stressed the cleric.

Father Viktor noted that the UOC with all its might helps the defenders of Ukraine. "Today the UOC buys uniforms, helps with food and money, conducts charity events, donates blood – each and every effort to help soldiers and the country to cleanse themselves from the evil of war," noted the secretary of the Rivne Eparchy.

As reported, the Rivne Eparchy raised 70 thousand for the Ukrainian Armed Forces at a charity fair.