During a religious procession to the Pochaiv Lavra, enlistment officers mobilized a UOC priest with many children

In Ternopil region, during a religious procession to the Pochaiv Lavra, recruitment officers mobilized a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).

This was reported by local media.

According to journalist Konstantin Andreyuk, the priest has already been sent to the Rivne training ground.

Media reports state that the man in question is Archpriest Bohdan Matveyev, a cleric of the Kremenchuk diocese and father of five children, the eldest of whom is already fighting and has the status of a combat veteran.

The Ternopil Regional Recruitment Center confirmed Matveyev’s mobilization.

“The law contains no absolute exemptions for categories of people who cannot be mobilized during martial law. The determining factor is the presence of legal grounds for deferment, exemption, or reservation. According to Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Military Duty and Military Service,’ citizen Bohdan Matveyev did not have a deferment, was not reserved in accordance with the law, and therefore is subject to mobilization on general grounds,” the TRC noted.

As previously reported, the authorities have granted exemptions to all churches, down to minor sects, but excluded the UOC from the list.

Earlier in Kharkiv, two UOC priests were forcibly mobilized and held in a recruitment center.