Police making enquiries about the priest from Sloviansk, who blessed Girkin

This is reported by the correspondent of the media Eastern Variant (Skhidnyy Variant).

In early September, our media outlet reported that archpriest of the UOC-MP, Fr Oleg Khyzhnyakov from the city of Sloviansk blessed the battle flags of the leader of the "DPR" militants, Igor Girkin, in 2014, and after the liberation of the city said the parting words to the Ukrainian police.

In social networks, this fact has become a kind of "information bomb".

According to the portal Myrotvorets, during the occupation of Sloviansk, Oleg Khyzhnyakov together with Volodymyr Ocheretyan (Father Vitaly) provided housing, food and money to the militants and campaigned for joining the ranks of the "DPR militia", blessed the military equipment, weapons and "battle flags" of the terrorists.

The activists decided to appeal to the police leadership to conduct a check there.

The Main Directorate of the National Police in the Donetsk region forwarded the letter to the regional security police department. Recently, a response was received from which it becomes clear that a thorough check of the facts stated had been carried out.

As it turned out, the photo of Oleg Khyzhnyakov with the police was taken in 2017 in the courtyard of the Sloviansk Interdistrict Department of the Security Police Department, where the best police officers were decorated with awards.

The archpriest performed the rite of blessing of the personnel as sent by the Church of the Holy Spirit. Law enforcement officers have checked him for maintaining relations with representatives of illegal armed groups, and as it has turned out, neither does he maintains such relations nor did he maintain them before.

However, photos from social networks and eyewitness accounts suggest otherwise.

In conclusion, the police said that no violations were found, but the appeal was considered. Perhaps in the future, as stated in the message, Oleg Khyzhnyakov will no longer be invited to such events.