Serhiy Gamalii

Sergey Gamaliy

Date of birth: 26.03.1979

Former head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional State Administration (03.12.2020 - 15.03.2023), adviser to the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (since May 2023).

Since his appointment to the post of chairman of the Khmelnytskyi Regional State Administration, Gamaliy has taken an active part in the raider seizures of the UOC churches.

Using his official position, the official accepted falsified documents for churches from criminal groups of the OCU, and then carried out illegal re-registrations.

In fact, Gamaliy's hands legalized dozens of criminal schemes of the OCU raiders.

On May 7, 2022, Gamaliy signed a decree by which he illegally re-registered the UOC St. Michael's Cathedral in Shepetivka city to the OCU.

The head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Gamaliy, signed a decree according to which the charter of the religious organization "Religious Community of St. Michael's Cathedral of the OCU in Shepetivka, Khmelnytskyi region" was registered in the so-called new edition.
By these actions, the official actually legalized the falsification of documents for the cathedral.

On May 7, 2022, the authorities of Shepetivka city held a so-called "meeting" near St. Michael's Cathedral to transfer the temple to the OCU.

(Source: website of Shepetivka city administration)

On July 3, 2022, in Knyazhpol village, Kamianets-Podilskyi district, Khmelnytskyi region, OCU supporters tried to seize the St. Paraskeva temple of the UOC.

The attempt to seize the church was facilitated by Gamaliy, who issued an order for the illegal re-registration of the church community in the OCU.

After the liturgy, when the UOC community was serving a prayer service for peace in Ukraine, OCU activists, led by their priest Igor Borovsky, tried to enter the church. The parishioners were forced to lock the doors and call the police. During the service, OCU activists knocked on the windows and shouted insults.

After the police’s arriving, temple’s parishioners opened the doors and showed the law enforcement officers all the documentation for the temple. During the discussions, OCU criminals demanded that Fr. Elias hand over the keys to the church, but they were refused. As a result, the doors were locked with two locks: the UOC community and the OCU activists.

As the rector of the Paraskeva Church told the UOJ, the UOC community has all the documentation for its temple and land plot. On May 21, 2022, the parishioners (43 people) held their meeting in the church, at which they unanimously testified their loyalty to the UOC with His Beatitude Onufriy. The community sent documents about this to the Khmelnytskyi military administration. Inna Mykhailova, Director of the Information Department of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Military Administration, replied that the results of the meeting were "taken into account" and would be "taken into account in further work."

Nevertheless, on May 26, a "village gathering" was held near the House of Culture in Knyazhpol, at which members of the religious community of the UOC were not present at all. There, a "decision" was made on the transfer of the UOC community to the OCU. According to Fr. Ilya, the initiator of this illegal meeting was the deputy of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Council Ihor Hai, who is also the owner of the agricultural company "Kalynivskyi Klyuch", which gives work to local residents. As a result of this meeting, the head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Military Administration, Gamaliy, re-registered the community's documents in the OCU.

Fr. Elias says that "believers" were gathered for the meeting with the help of administrative resources. And among the initiators of the "transition" were Uniates, in particular, the head of the medical outpatient clinic of Knyazhpol.

(Source: UOJ)

Starting from July 17, 2022, Gamaliy regularly made publications reporting on the illegal re-registration of religious communities of the UOC in favor of the OCU.

The official deliberately disseminated false information about the alleged "transfers" of the UOC communities to the OCU, but did not indicate the names and settlements.

This fact makes it impossible to verify his claims. Nevertheless, a large number of UOC communities reported falsification of documents for churches by OCU raiders and further illegal re-registrations by Gamaliy.

(Source: official Telegram page of the Head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional State Administration)

On July 28, 2022, the All-Ukrainian Sisterhood of Mary Magdalene (UOC) sent an official appeal to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy "On the termination of the powers of the head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Military Administration Serhiy Gamaliy".

This was reported by an employee of the Office of the President of Ukraine, assistant consultant to the deputy of the Kamianets-Podilskyi City Council, lawyer and human rights activist Victoria Kokhanovska on her Facebook page.

UOC Parishioners recalled that during Gamaliy's work as head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional State Administration in the region, "ensuring law and order, as well as observing the rights and freedoms of citizens of Ukraine" deteriorated sharply. The authors of the appeal recalled that Gamaliy had adopted over 30 illegal orders that violated the right to freedom of religion of of the UOC parishioners in the Khmelnytskyi region. In particular, Gamaliy used his authority to change the canonical subordination of religious communities to the UOC, transferring them to the OCU. This was done illegally, using forged documents and against the will of members of the religious community, which falls under Articles 205.1, 206, 358, 365.2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Article 14 of the Law of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations" and Article 25 of the Law of Ukraine "On State Registration of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs and Public Organizations" were grossly violated.

The appeal notes that the law enforcement agencies of the Khmelnytskyi region refuse or complicate the registration of criminal cases on these facts, which does not allow for the effective protection and restoration of the violated of citizens’ rights.

Based on the above and guided by Article 23-1 of the Law of Ukraine "On Citizens' Appeals", the Sisterhood asks the President to terminate the powers of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Military Administration’s head Serhiy Gamaliy and initiate criminal proceedings to verify the stated facts during the period of Gamaliy's activity as the head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Military Administration.

(Source: UOJ)

On August 16, 2022, Gamaliy spread false information about the alleged transfer of 89 communities of the UOC to the OCU.

Moreover, the official said that 8 more religious communities are under consideration in the Regional State Administration, which are allegedly going to change their religious affiliation.

During the war, 119 religious communities of the UOC (former Moscow Patriarchate) decided to change their religious affiliation. 89 communities moved to the OCU, and 30 to independent Orthodox communities.

In addition, the Khmelnytskyi Regional Military Administration is considering appeals from 8 more religious communities regarding their transition to the OCU.

We also have information about another 42 religious communities that are preparing documents for the legal registration of their transition to the OCU.

In addition, Gamaliy used the term "Moscow Patriarchate" in relation to the UOC communities as hate speech.

The official did not specify the names and settlements of religious communities. Nevertheless, given the numerous testimonies of the parishes of the UOC, Gamaliy re-registered on the basis of falsified documents provided to him by OCU activists.

(Source: official Telegram page of the Head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional State Administration)

On September 21, 2022, in Khmelnytskyi city, deputies at a regular session of the Regional Council adopted an appeal to the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, the Cabinet of Ministers and the National Security and Defense Council with a request to ban the UOC, according to the website of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Council.

Gamaliy personally participated in the meeting.

The deputies explained the need to ban the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church due to "supporting Russian aggression."

In their speeches, the people's deputies stressed that the adoption of this appeal is "extremely important", the ban on the activities of the UOC should be regulated at the state level with the mandatory adoption of an appropriate law, and the Ministry of Justice should cancel the Statute of the UOC.

The chairman of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Council, Violetta Labaziuk, called the ban on the UOC "an urgent need."

The initiator of the appeal to ban the UOC was the deputy from the "European Solidarity" Alina Koval, who tried to block the procession of the cross to the Pochaev Lavra. Then she said that the procession was "dangerous" because the UOC prays in Russian language and does not recognize the OCU. "They (the UOC – ed.) continue to insist on their canonicity, on the fact that the OCU is an impostor church, on the fact that they have the right to pray in Russian language," Koval said.

(Source: UOJ)