“The Truth About the Persecution of the UOC” — is not about loud statements from bishops who for years have been scaring society with imaginary “wolves.”
It’s about real suffering that is happening today in the occupied territories.
A priest from Tokmak, Father Kostiantyn Maksimov, refused to renounce the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and to commemorate Patriarch Kirill. For his faithfulness, he was sentenced by a Russian occupation court to 14 years in a maximum-security colony.
The program features his mother Svitlana Maksimova, human rights lawyer Yulia Bohdan, priest and volunteer Fr. Volodymyr Kovalchuk, and expert on Russian war crimes, Vladyslav Havrylov, analyst at the International Partnership for Humanitarian Law (IPHR).
We discuss:
- Why does the UOC remain silent when its priests are tortured and imprisoned?
- Who is really persecuting the Church today — the Ukrainian state or the Russian occupation regime?
- Why are the so-called “persecutions of the UOC in Ukraine” turned into loud political statements, while the real torture and prison sentences in Russia against UOC clergy and believers are met with silence?
This conversation is painful — but necessary. Because right now it is being decided whether we are able to call things by their real names and not betray those who suffer for their faith.
We ask all viewers for prayers and financial support for Fr. Kostiantyn Maksimov. Every contribution can become a sign of hope in the hell of a Russian prison.