A Moscow priest has been sentenced for assaulting a priest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU)

A Moscow priest has been sentenced for assaulting a priest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) with a cross during the funeral of a Ukrainian serviceman. The priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) has been found guilty of the assault and has been fined 765 hryvnias ($28) and ordered to pay 5,000 hryvnias ($183) as compensation for moral damage.

The verdict was announced by the Tomashpil District Court in Vinnytsia Oblast. The incident took place in July 2022 during the funeral of Oleksandr Zinivyi, a Ukrainian soldier who died in the war with Russia. During the funeral service, the OCU priest, Mykhailo Vasilyuk, delivered a speech calling for the ban on the activities of Russian priests in Ukraine. This angered Moscow priest Anatoliy Dudko, who attacked Vasilyuk twice with a metal cross, hitting him on the hand.

Dudko was arrested and charged with intentional infliction of minor bodily harm. During the trial, he denied the assault on Vasilyuk, but the court found him guilty based on the testimonies of witnesses and the conclusions of experts who documented bruises on Vasilyuk's hand.