A UOC (MP) church in Babi Yar set on fire again
This morning, April 22, the Church of Our Lady “the Joy of All Who Sorrow” UOC (MP) was on fire. The guards who were there put out the flames on their own, as "Znai" website reports.
"The emergency report about the fire of one-storey building was received at 4:54. The source of fire was outdoors, in the refectory. The fire damaged the outer wall of the building and plastic steel window. No one was hurt. Probable cause of fire is arson," the press service of State Emergency Service reports.
The police started checks, because this very church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) was set on fire for a third time in the last few months. Every time the "Molotov cocktails" were thrown inside. In addition, all the circumstances of the fire indicates that the same persons were involved in arson.
On January 26th at 4-00 in the morning, there was the second attempt to set on fire the Church "Joy of All Who Sorrow" at Babi Yar. The church guard heard strong explosions and saw flames glow,” according to the UOC (MP). They also say that someone threw 6 bottles of Molotov cocktail, 3 of which did not catch fire. As a result, the church altar was damaged.
The Emergency officer specify that they were not called to quench the fire.
“The guards coped on their own, they had fire extinguishers,” said Emergency service spokesperson Svitlana Vodolaga.
For the first time, at 4:00 AM, the temple burned on December 4 last year. The priests say that none of them had any conflict or received threats.
The site is not in anyone’s way, because is not far from the cemetery.
After the second arson of the church, while police searched for intruders, the Russian Foreign Ministry said confidently that it was “a provocation by Ukrainian nationalists”.
