"Despite my warnings, the seizure of the Nativity church in Kuzmyn is still being pushed by Anatolii Mykhailiuk, a local oligarch coercing residents to force an illegal seizure of the parish. I expect @StefanishynaO to explain herself to fellow members in my office this week," Luna wrote on X.
Earlier in January, Luna vowed to hold Ukrainian officials accountable for church seizures. She said then that she received a video appeal from Orthodox Christians in Kuzmyn, Ukraine asking for protection as the local authorities move to seize their church.
The Ukrainian authorities have launched the largest wave of persecution in the country's recent history against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP), the largest community of believers in the country. Citing its ties to Russia, local authorities in various regions of Ukraine have banned the UOC's activity.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has begun opening criminal cases against UOC clergy and conducting "counterintelligence operations," including searches of bishops and priests, churches, and monasteries, in search of evidence of "anti-Ukrainian activity." Ukrainian courts have convicted some clergy, and many are in custody. Hundreds of UOC Orthodox churches have been seized by the schismatic "Orthodox Church of Ukraine" with the authorities' support.