St Maksym Sandovich of Carpatho-Russia (video)

The link for this was sent by the inimitable Sasha Ressetar of Harrisburg PA. His pop is a priest, and his grandpa before him, as well. Sasha is a talented balalaikist and wonderful human-being. He is also a blood-relative of St Maksym. Many of us have kin who are saints of the Church, especially amongst the Russian, Serbian, and Ionian New Martyrs (and all the rest who suffered under the Red or Turkish boot). This DOES make a difference. It is one of the reasons why bloodless American konvertsy cannot grasp the inner reality and essence of the Church. For us, it is passionate and spirit-filled; for them, it is nothing but paper and ink. It is why we fight so hard for our Church… it is our Mother… and that is why we are so obstinate and mulish. Love is worth any sacrifice that we can give.

There is a bio of St Maksym on the right-hand side of the YouTube page. Attend to it. It puts the lie to the Uniate assertion, “We are just Orthodox in union with Rome”. Izzat so? Where are your icons of St Maksym? I DID see you bowing before an “icon” of Francis of Assisi… we DON’T do that, sir (New Skete’s abomination notwithstanding).

TV Channel “Rossiya” will Show a Film about the Ukrainian Involvement in the Georgian-South Ossetian War

On 1 February, the première of a documentary by journalist Arkady Mamontov, Свой: чужой (Yours: A Stranger), will occur on the television channel Rossiya (Russia).  In it, the author investigated the participation of Ukrainian military personnel in the Georgian-South Ossetian War. As reported on the website of the television channel Vesti (News), which is also due to show the film, the documentary tells how the Ukraine helped Georgia before and during the conflict, and about the Ukrainians who fought in the war zone. During a journalistic investigation, which lasted five months, the film crew went to the Ukraine and South Ossetia and found out that “Georgia had carefully planed this war for years, and they recruited specialists and mercenaries for this purpose”.

On the night of 8 August 2008, Georgia attacked the city of Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia. In response, Russia conducted an operation to force Georgia to stand down. The RF Defence Ministry announced that it has evidence that proves that Ukrainian air defence units based in Georgia participated in the fighting. These consisted of Ukrainian specialists in the use and operation of the Buk-M1 and Osa weapons systems The Ukrainian side denied that its forces were involved in the conflict.

In an interview with Vesti, Mr Mamontov stated, “The Ukraine carried out a clandestine mobilisation. On 12 and 13 August, reservists were called to the colours. We talked to them. They were offered a choice. Either, they could go to the Carpathian Mountains to repair the flood damage, without pay, or, they could go to Georgia, and be paid for it. The people that we met in the Ukraine were honest and patriotic-minded Ukrainians, that is, they see their country as independent, and they told me that they were removed from standby alert status. Combat-ready forces in the western part of the country and the rapid-deployment airborne forces were stripped of their Buk-M1 air defence systems. They were brought to Batumi and Poti, sent to positions near Gori, as well as being placed on the Abkhaz border”, he emphasised. There shall be several such stories in the programme according to Mr Mamontov. He forecasts that the film shall have a different reaction in the Ukraine.

1 February 2009

RIA-Novosti

http://www.rian.ru/society/20090201/160661773.html (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

One of the reasons that Ukrainians are willing to talk about this situation is because it has become clear that Yushchenko and his Orangie cabal took weapons from the Ukrainian forces, sold them to Georgia, and pocketed the swag. Then, the Georgian forces ran away, melting away in desertion, and most of this gear fell into Russian hands, in any case. For God’s sake, even the Galicians are not behind Yushchenko in this one. It is downright dumb, and even the fanatic nationalists know that Yushchenko’s misadventures are not helping their cause.

Russia has to do nothing but sit back and let this pot boil. The Ukrainian successor-state shall be destroyed by… the Ukrainian nationalists themselves! Shades of Pogo the Possum! “We have met the enemy, and he is us!” Where is Walt Kelly when we need him? Oh… he’s in heaven…

The Carpatho-Russian Russophiles: One in Faith and Soul with Holy Mother Russia

One of the figures in this photograph is St Maksim Sandovich (1886-1914), Hieromartyr of Lemkovshchyna, murdered by the Hapsburg authorities on trumped-up charges for preaching Orthodoxy in Podkarpatska Rus.

Then, on Sunday, 6 September, whilst at prayer at the dawn of the new day, Fr Maksim could hear the noise of a crowd beyond the walls of their prison. The noise was accompanied finally by a load thud as a moustachioed German captain, named Dietrich, from Linz entered the prison grounds, accompanied by two soldiers and four gendarmes. The captain was known to be a cruel and sadistic person. This group was followed by the prison wardens, some civil servants, officers, and a group of curious women led by Pan Mitshka, the leader of the Gorlice District. As silence fell, the order was given to the warden to bring Fr Maksim from his cell.

With that order, two soldiers led the twenty-eight-year-old Orthodox priest from the prison. Fr Maksim suddenly realised where they were taking him, and he humbly and with dignity asked, “Be so good as not to hold me. I will go peacefully wherever you wish”. Even the taunting of the crowd did not affect his courageous bearing as he walked calmly and with a measured gait to the fateful wall, as befitting a follower of Christ.

Captain Dietrich ripped Fr Maksim’s cross from his chest, tossing it on the ground where he trampled it with his feet. As the captain bound Fr Maksim’s hands behind his back and blindfolded him, Fr Maksim exclaimed that it was not necessary, as he had no intention of running away. But, the “brave” captain laughed and then marked with white chalk a line on Fr Maksim’s black cassock as a target for the riflemen. In the silence of the moment as the executioners were arranged, Pan Mitshka read the death sentence. With a short command from the captain, the sabre was raised and lowered. With that action, shots echoed through the prison.

Fr Maksim’s voice could then be heard, at first, strongly, but, diminishing as he spoke, “Long live the Russian people”. Then, leaning against the wall, “Long live the Holy Orthodox Faith”. And, finally, and barely audible, “Long live Slavdom”. As his powerful frame slid down the wall, a gendarme ended Fr Maksim’s suffering by firing three shots from his pistol into Fr Maksim’s head.

OrthodoxWiki

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Maxim_Sandovich (in English)

Editor’s Note:

The photograph is courtesy of Sasha Ressetar of Harrisburg PA, a pious Orthodox Christian, a great musician, and the son of a long priestly line. Sasha is blood-kin to St Maksim Sandovich. The Ressetar family knows the cost of confessing the Orthodox faith, full and entire. Thank you, Sasha! Keep the Faith!

This is what Yushchenko wishes to do to Fr Dmitri Sidor and the present Carpatho-Russian confessors of the Orthodox Faith. Support our Carpatho-Russian coreligionists in their bid for state sovereignty. Speak up and don’t be shy! Our brothers and sisters in Podkarpatska Rus are depending on you!

Editor’s Update 01/01/08:

OrthodoxWiki incorrectly gives the date of St Maksim’s execution as 6 August 1914. It is corrected to 6 September 1914 per information conveyed to me by Fr Daniel Ressetar, Sasha’s proud dad. Thanks for the update, I am taking this source warily in future as it is proving to be spotty in content and not in touch with many elements in the Church. Caveat lector!

Watch this video! Carpatho-Russia is Preparing to Secede from the Orangies!

This is four-minutes worth of one of the most significant events unfolding now. The Carpatho-Russian people are fed up with the genocidal policies of the Galician nationalists and are preparing to secede. These people deserve your support, prayers, and your efforts in making their oppression known.

Yushchenko’s CIA-trained secret police goons are attempting to smash the Carpatho-Russian Orthodox leadership and destroy this people’s  very existence. Don’t be silent! Pass the word! Pray! Give your money, if asked. All Orthodox must stand together in this.

God preserve Fr Dmitri Sidor, the Carpatho-Russian people, and their millennium-old culture. Don’t let the Galicians get away with genocide!

My thanks to Timothy Connelly for alerting me to this short, but, vitally-important video.

Repressions against Carpatho-Russians and the Fight for their Rights

St Maksim Sandovich (1886-1914), New Martyr of Lemkovshchyna, Confessor of the Orthodox Faith, murdered by the Hapsburgs in 1914. His spiritual descendant is Fr Dmitri Sidor, who is persecuted by the Orangies in Kiev

The Ukrainian leadership of Viktor Yushchenko has again demonstrated that there exists a wide gap between its democratic rhetoric and its practical policies. This gap is especially evident in official Kiev’s national policies. The Russian language and culture are still being driven from the Ukraine’s cultural, educational, and informational space. The regions and ethnic groups that refuse to regard themselves as Ukrainians have to face forced Ukrainisation. These include both the Russian south-east and the Carpathians, whose indigenous residents include Rusyns and Hungarians.

The Soym [parliament] of the Carpatho-Rusyns is an NGO that has long been fighting for the civil rights of Rusyns (Carpatho-Russians), primarily, for their right to be referred to by their own name, rather than as Ukrainians. The present-day Ukrainian authorities refuse them even that, regardless of numerous personal pledges of President Viktor Yushchenko (and Leonid Kuchma before him) to recognise Rusyns as a separate nation. A number of acts of international law have recommended that the Ukrainian authorities halt the harassment of national minorities on its territory, including the harassment of the Rusyn minority.

Reports from information agencies state that, on 26 November, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) in the Carpathians sent files to the regional authorities demanding that the associations the “Soym of the  Carpatho-Rusyns” and the “People’s Council of the Carpatho-Rusyns” be disbanded . The position taken by the SBU is questionable from the legal point of view.

The activity of the Soym of the Carpatho-Rusyns is based on the results of the 1 December 1991 referendum, where 78 percent of Carpathians spoke in favour of forming an autonomous region within the framework of the Ukraine. Let us emphasise this detail, it is all about autonomy, rather than secession from the Ukrainian state. This is clearly stated in the memorandum of the 2^nd European Congress of Carpatho-Rusyns that took place in Mukačevo on 25 October 2008.

The fact that the leaders of the Soym of the Carpatho-Rusyns are called “separatists” is a foul legal frame-up, as they are dedicated champions of autonomy fighting for the cultural and civil rights of the indigenous residents of the Carpathians. The authoritarian and assimilationist Ukrainisation polices of the Kiev leadership have resulted in a rekindling of separatism, thus, radicalising the positions of the Ukraine’s national minorities. Therefore, it is not out of the question that, following the steps of Rusyns, other nationalities living in the Ukraine shall begin to speak about their autonomy (cultural or national and territorial), including ethnic groups in the western Ukraine.

Kiev can resolve the so-called problem of Rusyn “separatism” easily, without resorting to any sort of repressions. What it would take is to satisfy the legal and moderate demands of the Rusyn movement. But, to all appearances, Kiev is stubbornly preparing to launch a large-scale attack on the rights of minorities. Smothering the problem this way would give only a short-time effect, for the only response to that would be coming up with more radical demands, by both Rusyn associations and organisations of other national communities in the Ukraine.

28 November 2008

Eduard Popov

Strategic Culture Foundation

http://en.fondsk.ru/article.php?id=1774

Editor’s Note:

This is the true face of Galician Uniate nationalism. Fr Dmitri Sidor, the courageous leader of the Carpatho-Russian people, has been harassed by Yushchenko’s CIA-trained SBU goons. Do not forget that some of the secret torture facilities run by the CIA were in the Ukraine, with Yushchenko’s blessing. America should step back and leave this sickly successor-state to its fate.

A note on terminology: The original document uses “Rusyn”, whilst the preferred usage amongst the Orthodox population of the region (and in its Orthodox diaspora) is “Carpatho-Russian”.

The following is from Wikipedia and states the Galician Uniate nationalist spin on events:

“The Svoboda Party released following statement: “Zakarpattian separatists led by the Moscow Patriarchate priest Sidor are issuing an ultimatum to the Ukrainian authorities today. Tomorrow, armed with Russian passports and money from the Kremlin, they will implement the ‘Georgian scenario’ in the Ukraine”. The party called on President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yuliya Timoshenko to issue a political assessment of the actions in Zakarpattia and the Crimea, called on the National Security and Defence Council to draft a plan for preventing separatist actions, and called the Foreign Affairs Ministry to declare all the citizens that participated in the 25 October congress as persona non grata in the Ukraine. The prosecutor’s office of Zakarpattia region has filed a case against priest Dmitri Sidor and Yevgeni Zhupan, an Our Ukraine deputy of the Zakarpattia regional council and chairman of the People’s Council of Ruthenians, on charges of encroaching on the territorial integrity and inviolability of the Ukraine”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpatho_Ruthenia

There one has it. Kiev has declared war on the Carpatho-Russian people, their culture, their language, and their Orthodox faith. It is in their own words. May God help and preserve the brave Carpatho-Russian people in the face of Galician persecution.

I thank Timothy Connelly for alerting me to this story. Ochen spasibo! Pray for the persecuted Orthodox people of Carpatho-Russia!

The Church and National History of the Ukraine: Is it the Beginning or the End of the Discussion?

Hieromartyr St Maksim Sandovich (+1914), who was executed by the Hapsburg authorities solely on the grounds of being an Orthodox priest. NEVER forget this! Never forget the host of martyrs from Galicia and Carpatho-Russia who died for refusing Uniatism.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has sponsored splashy and lurid events commemorating the 75^th anniversary of the so-called “Holodomyr”, that is, the artificial famine in the USSR that was a consequence of the Soviet policy of forced collectivisation. Hunger stalked vast areas of the Volga region, Kazakhstan, and the Ukraine. However, Mr Yushchenko makes an attempt to present the famine of the 1930s as an intentional act of genocide against the Ukrainian people. He tries to garner support for this position from the international community, the Vatican, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and even factions in the Moscow Patriarchate. He had the gall to invite President Dmitri Medvedev to this Russophobic conclave! In addressing the Pope of Rome and the Ecumenical Patriarch on the topic of the 75^th anniversary of this famine, Mr Yushchenko stated, “Scholarly research has uncovered unquestionable evidence that proves that this was an occurrence of genocide. The Communist régime intended to destroy the flower of the nation by uprooting the Ukrainian soul. This was done in order to squelch our belief in our freedom and trample on the revival of our statehood. In the end, the efforts of these beasts were defeated”.

However, who did the Ukrainian president blame for “the destruction of the flower of the nation by uprooting the Ukrainian soul?” Did he place the blame solely on the communist régime? Strictly speaking, the famine was a sotsiotsidom, that is, a destruction of the free-holding peasant class according to social, not ethnic, criteria. Furthermore, this artificially-induced famine raged not only through the Ukraine, but, throughout all of Russia, and it affected all of its peoples. To say that the so-called “Holodomyr” was “an act of genocide directed against the Ukrainian people” does not correspond to historical truth and it is nothing but a false shibboleth of the “Orange” faction used as anti-Russian propaganda. Let us give a reply to the vapourings concerning the alleged action of the communist regime in “uprooting the Ukrainian soul”. In actuality, one can say that these events unfolded in a way precisely opposite of this formulation.

To spiritually enslave the people, the Bolshevik government attempted to deprive them of their faith, history, and national self-consciousness. To this end, the Bolsheviks forbade Russians to use the names “Russia” and “Little Russia”. They had a policy of forced “Ukrainisation” in the 1920s in the Ukrainian SSR, restricting the national consciousness to the areas of the Donbas, Novorossii, Tauride, and Carpatho-Russia. Certainly, the Bolsheviks planned the destruction of the Orthodox Church. Few know this, but, the Ukrainian Bolsheviks actively aided the so-called “Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church”. In response to this Bolshevik policy of support for a so-called “Ukrainian Local Church”, Patriarch St Tikhon Bellavin strengthened the authority of the MP hierarchs in the region, establishing an exarchate of the MP in the Ukraine.

It is very instructive to trace the history of the Bolshevik famine. The first of the regions to be affected was Volynia, one of the more prosperous parts of the country. From time immemorial, it had been a stronghold of conservative and patriotic Russian sentiment. In effect, Volynia was not affected by the Revolution of 1905, and secessionist feelings were absent there. It may be amazing to us today, but, Volynia was a centre of the conservative all-Russian political outlook. This is described with particular force in the life of Hieromartyr Arkady Ostalsky of Zhitomir written by the Crimean archpriest Fr Nikolai Donenko. One of the main spiritual centres of Russia was Pochaev Monastery in Volynia, and no candidate to the Gosduma could be elected without the blessing of the spiritual leaders of that time, Archbishop Antony Khrapovitsky and Archimandrite Vitaly Maksimenko. Moscow and St Petersburg voted for liberal deputies and the Volynia of Antony Khrapovitsky… voted for Russian patriots.

It is also instructive to recall that a previous synod of the Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church of the MP canonised the Host of Galician and Carpatho-Russian New Martyrs, headed by Hieromartyr Maksim Sandovich, the victims of the first genocide of the 20^th century, the massacre of the Carpatho-Russian Russophiles, who were accused by the Hapsburg authorities of “espionage on the part of Russia”. More than 60,000 “spies” were killed by the Austro-Hungarians. First, several sequential actions were carried out against priests and laity who left Uniatism for Orthodoxy and spoke Russian. We can see this in the trial of Olga Grabar in 1882 and the first and second Marmarosh-Sigetskie trials in 1912-14. In Carpatho-Russia, entire villages became Orthodox, abandoning Uniatism. More than 90,000 people were convicted in show trials, thousands of the peasants lived in a state of siege for several years. The authorities pressed trials against Frs Maksim Sandovich and Semyon Bendasyuk and Fyodor Bogatyrts, a doctor of theology…

If the victims of the genocide were canonised, and do remember that a United Nations convention of 1948 precisely defines “genocide” as the destruction of a people based soled on ethnic or religious grounds, it would be logical to condemn it. In this context, the recent declaration of the synod of the UAOC (MP) on the so-called “Holodomyr” did not close the discussion, rather, it opened the way for an objective and common study about these key historical events and the lessons that we can learn from them.

18 November 2008

Kirill Frolov

Head of the Ukrainian Department of the Institute for the Study of the CIS Countries

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=dujour&div=346 (in Russian)

Carpatho-Russians Seek Divorce from the Ukraine, Like the Czechs and Slovaks

The Orthodox cathedral in Užgorod, as seen from the ramparts of the Užgorod Castle-Museum

“We are not Transdnistria, we are not Georgia, we are a different people, and we hope the Ukrainians will give us a divorce in a peaceful way, like the Czechs and Slovaks did”, Fr Dmitri Sidor, the head of Carpathian-Russian parliament, told ZIK on 28 October.

Carpatho-Russians are seeking autonomy for the Zakarpatya oblast of the Ukraine. “The conflict in Transdnistria erupted because proud Moldova refused to divorce Transdnistria”, Rev Sidor argued. He considers the Ukraine to be a totalitarian state outside of the rule of law because the government refuses to engage in talks with the Carpatho-Russian leadership and rejects their demands. Carpatho-Russian activists wish the Zakarpatya Oblast Council session due on 1 December to endorse the results of the referendum of 1 December 1991 in which residents of Zakarpatya supported an autonomous status for the region. “The régime ignored our calls for autonomy for 17 years”, commented Yevgeni Zhupan, an Our Ukraine faction council member and an activist of the Carpatho-Russian movement.

Fr Dmitri warned that, if the Oblast Council does not support the Carpatho-Russian initiative on 1 December, they will wait for some time and then start to fight for their rights. “We shall demand our autonomy in a peaceful way. But, how we will fight for it is our national secret. If Lvov residents do not support us, we will have supporters coming from Rovno, Kiev, and Odessa”.

28 October 2008

ZIK

http://zik.com.ua/en/news/2008/10/28/155535 (in English)

Editor’s Note:

So much for American support of “democracy”! Well… perhaps, Fr Dmitri should convert to the “Assemblies of God”, and, then, the neocons would deign to “notice” his existence! Note well that “human rights” does not apply to Orthodox Christians. All Orthodox Christians in this country should take heed of this and act accordingly.

Carpatho-Russians in Mukačevo Declare Podkarpatska Rus a Republic

A Carpatho-Russian church in Mukačevo

A new republic, Podkarpatska Rus, was declared by Carpatho-Russians at their European Congress in Mukačevo on 25 October, the congress co-chairman, Fr Dmitri Sidor, told ZIK. The congress was attended by 109 deputies. A guest from the Czech Republic gave the congress international status. The Carpatho-Russian delegates signed an act of declaration of Carpatho-Russian statehood and announced the re-formation of the republic on the basis stated on 22 November 1938, the date of the original declaration of independence, as well as electing an executive for the republic. Congress participants told ZIK they will appeal to the Zakarpatya Oblast Council to award autonomy to the republic and to declare the oblast an autonomous republic.

27 October 2008

ZIK

http://zik.com.ua/en/news/2008/10/27/155336 (in English)

Editor’s Note:

Big news! It sure wasn’t reported in the western press! Is it because it puts one of the darling mascot-states of the neocons, the Ukraine, in a VERY bad light? Hmm… Give your prayers and support to the brave Carpatho-Russian people. They deserve to be free of Galician Uniate domination.

A note to my readers:

I use “Carpatho-Russian” because that is the usage favoured by Orthodox Christians from the region. “Rusyn” is an anti-Orthodox Uniate coinage best avoided. It is like using “Byzantine” when we should be using “New Roman”. Let’s use the form preferred by our Orthodox confrères. The papists can use what they will.

Holy Synod of the Romanian Patriarchate Condemns Metropolitan who took Uniate Communion, No Decision as to Punishment

Patriarch Daniel Ciobotea of Bucharest and all Romania (1951- )

Bucharest, 10 July 2008 (Interfax):

The Holy Synod of the Romanian Patriarchate did not carry out any punishment against Metropolitan Nicolae of the Banat, who received Holy Communion at a Uniate liturgy, or Bishop Sophrony, who blessed water together with a Uniate “bishop”. “The Holy Synod condemns the behaviour of both of these hierarchs, for this has caused much disquiet in the church. After taking this decision, the Holy Synod took under consideration their sincere regret and repentance, and accepted this as the first sign of their amendment”, said a communiqué of the press service of the Patriarchate of Romania published on its official website, Interfax-Religion reported.

The Holy Synod reiterated the inadmissibility of “receiving Holy Communion in the church of another Christian confession” for all hierarchs, priests, deacons, monks, and laity of the Patriarchate of Romania, just as it is inadmissible for any Orthodox cleric “to perform any sacrament in union with the clergy of any other confession. Those who refuse to obey this decision shall be excommunicated from the Orthodox Church, and they shall be subject to the canonical punishments that correspond to the position that they occupy in the Church”, the declaration of the Holy Synod noted. The text of the document clearly states that clergymen are to be deposed for such actions and laymen are to be barred from the Holy Eucharist.

As was previously reported by Interfax-Religion, at the end of May, Metropolitan Nicolae of Banat took Holy Communion at a Uniate liturgy in Timosoara in the presence of the papal Apostolic Nuncio to Romania, Archbishop Francisco Xavier Lozano. Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, the head of the MP Department of External Church Relations directed a letter of protest to his counterpart in the Patriarchate of Romania, Bishop Cyprian, with the request that “he clarify what actually occurred, and verify if a hierarch of the Patriarchate of Romania truly took the sacraments from those not part of the Orthodox Church”. Vladyki Kirill also asked Bishop Cyprian to relate the views of Patriarch Daniel of Bucharest and all Romania and the Holy Synod on this matter.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=25403 (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

Many converts to Orthodoxy in America, especially in America, do not understand the Orthodox position on Uniatism. The Church views Uniatism as a spiritual imposture of the worst order. We view them as Roman Catholics who use Orthodox ritual and externals to fool the Orthodox faithful into union with the Pope of Rome.

In Eastern Europe, the Unia was brutally imposed by the Poles and Hapsburgs upon their Orthodox subjects. There was much persecution of Orthodox believers, and, if you doubt me, ask the Carpatho-Russian people (in particular, ask them about the Tallerhof death camp run by the Hapsburgs). One should note that Orthodox people of this nationality call themselves Carpatho-Russians, and Uniates call themselves Rusyns. Indeed, most Carpatho-Russian people consider being called “Rusyn” insulting. Sadly, this persecution continues today, and you should keep the faithful Orthodox people of Galicia and Carpatho-Russia in your prayers, as they are under attack by fanatical Galician Uniates daily. They are heroes and deserve your support.

Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) Trumped Up False Charges against Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Organisation Headed by Fr Dmitri Sidor

Orthodox Cathedral in Užgorod, constructed under the leadership of Fr Dmitri Sidor, a true national hero and Orthodox confessor. Pray for Fr Dmitri, the members of the SPR, and for all Carpatho-Russians under Ukrainian persecution at present.

Užgorod, 4 July 2008 (RISU):

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) trumped up criminal charges of “separatist activity” against the organisation Soym Podkarpatskikh Rusinov (SPR) (Ark of Transcarpatho-Russians), which is headed by Archpriest Dmitri Sidor of the Moscow Patriarchate. This action was reported on 27 June by Valentin Nalivaichenko, the chairman of the SBU. Fr Dmitri commented on the website Zaxid.net that members of the SPR shall not answer any calls from the SBU. He also asserts that no formal criminal charges have been delivered to the leadership of the SPR.

Mr Nalivaichenko informed Novy Region (New Region) that a criminal case was filed against the organisers of the SPR by the SBU because it allegedly “speaks against [Ukrainian] independence and urges change of the political system”. “For us, it doesn’t matter from whom or from where rebellion originates. We are acting within the law. Before we filed criminal charges, we warned these people”, Mr Nalivaichenko said.

Fr Dmitri, in his comments on the statements of Mr Nalivaichenko, said that “thus far, the Ukrainian government does not recognise the results of the referendum of 1992, where some 92 percent of the region’s population voted to be part of the Ukraine, but, 78 percent also supported the formation of a special [Carpatho-Russian] autonomous region within the Ukraine, so, up to this time, the Ukrainian authority in the region is illegitimate”. He also reiterated that “the SPR has passed no resolutions relative to separatism”. In his view, “the discussion revolves around [Kiev] recognising the Transcarpathian region as an autonomous self-governing region within the Ukrainian state. The leadership of the SPR has never advocated separatism, but, it stands for the protection of the rights of Carpatho-Russians”.

RISU

Quoted in Sedmitza.ru

http://www.sedmitza.ru/ (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

This action is reprehensible and brutal. If you needed proof that the Galician Uniate fanatics who have the ear of Yushchenko are evil, here it is. There are no people as innocuous and peace-loving as the people of Carpatho-Russia. They have given much good to the world. They simply wish to protect their national heritage from assaults by Galician Uniate thugs who desire to ram their religious and nationalist agenda down the throats of the entire population of the Ukraine.

Do not forget that the OUN/UPA bandits murdered Jews, Roma (Gypsys), Poles, Magyars, Slovaks, and Carpatho-Russians in the latter stages of World War II in an attempt to “cleanse” the Western Ukraine of all non-Uniate elements. Nice folks. They are up to their old tricks, apparently. Reflect on the fact that Washington supports such evil. How low have we fallen?

Heed the cry of the Carpatho-Russian confessors!