Serhii Kondrachuk

Serhii Kondrachuk

Date of birth: March 18, 1986

Deputy of the Rivne Regional Council, former Head of the Zdolbuniv District State Administration, former Chairman of the Rivne Regional Council (December 2, 2020 – August 12, 2022, from Petro Poroshenko’s party European Solidarity).

Throughout his political and administrative career, Serhii Kondrachuk has established himself as a consistent supporter of persecution against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).

Kondrachuk has been involved in raider seizures of churches. While holding the position of head of the district administration, the official personally broke down church doors with a crowbar.

Moreover, the official publicly incited hatred and violated the equality of citizens on the grounds of religion.

While serving as Chairman of the Rivne Regional Council, Kondrachuk initiated and promoted unlawful decisions restricting the rights and freedoms of citizens.

Since at least January 2019, the official has been involved in organizing, publicly and administratively legitimizing illegal “votes for transition to the OCU,” contrary to the law, church statutes, and the will of the religious communities of the UOC in Rivne Region, particularly in Zdolbuniv District.

According to journalists from SPZh, the official initiated the raider seizure of 7 UOC churches in the district, personally participating physically in some of these seizures.

May 10, 2018 While serving as Head of the Zdolbuniv District State Administration, Kondrachuk initiated repression against believers and clergy of the UOC.

The official appealed to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) demanding searches of Ukrainian Orthodox Church temples. The pretext was appeals addressed to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, which UOC believers and clergy had signed, asking him not to participate in the creation of an anti-canonical church structure.

Kondrachuk also insisted on the presence of law enforcement officers at Sunday services in order to prevent the collection of signatures.

The official directly wrote that he had actively participated in the re-subordination of the religious community of the village of Novosilky, Kyiv region, from the UOC to the “Kyiv Patriarchate,” describing himself as a “convinced KP supporter” and a “trusted person” since 2008.

Kondrachuk openly stated that he does not intend to be tolerant toward UOC communities and clergy and would openly discriminate against them as head of the district administration:

“I strongly ask representatives of the MP never again to approach me for any assistance. Moreover, from now on you are unlikely to be welcome guests at events organized by the District State Administration while I remain its head.”

January 27, 2019 Kondrachuk published evidence proving his complicity in falsifying documents for the Holy Cross (Exaltation of the Cross) Church of the UOC in the village of Kopytkovo.

The official effectively legitimized a fake “transition to the OCU” on his personal Facebook page and also disseminated unreliable and deliberately false information about the will of the parish community.

In the same publication, Kondrachuk attempted to legalize the falsification of documents for the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God Church of the UOC in the village of Urvenna.

February 9, 2019 Archpriest Oleksandr Danyliuk, rector of the Holy Cross Church of the UOC, was unable to enter the church because all the locks had been replaced.

To document the offense, the clergyman called the police, who arrived at the church, which is the property of the UOC religious community of the village of Kopytkovo.

By evening, outsiders began gathering near the sealed church. It later became known that all of them had arrived in Kopytkovo from other settlements at the request of Serhii Kondrachuk.

“What outraged me most was that Mr. Kondrachuk arrived at the church with his own keys,” Father Oleksandr reported. “That means he changed the locks himself, just as he organized an absentee meeting in the village for the transition to the OCU.”
The head of the District State Administration was initially unable to enter the church because the priest’s family stood at the entrance.

Supporters of the OCU began a verbal altercation, shouting accusations against the Church. The gathered individuals insulted the priest and incited hatred.

Serhii Kondrachuk personally pushed the priest and his wife off the steps by force. After that, the head of the Zdolbuniv District State Administration opened the church, allowed the priest’s belongings to be removed, entered the altar, and placed candles on the altar table.

On Sunday, February 10, the first service of OCU raiders was held in the seized church, as reported by Serhii Kondrachuk on his Facebook page.

February 17, 2019 Under Kondrachuk’s leadership, a group of OCU raiders held illegal territorial community meetings, during which they decided to transfer the Intercession Church of the UOC in the village of Buderazh to the OCU.

Representatives of the parish reported the official’s participation in the crime.

At the illegal meeting, 88 people voted “for the OCU,” whose affiliation with the religious community was not confirmed. Representatives of the UOC conducted an alternative poll and signature collection in the village, where at least 230 out of 350 eligible residents voted for remaining with the UOC.

(Source: SPZh)

The church community itself confirmed its loyalty to the UOC on February 9, 2019.

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The community was even forced to appeal to President Zelensky for help and protection from lawlessness.

(Source: SPZh)

October 26, 2019 At around 6:00 a.m., OCU supporters led by Kondrachuk seized the Intercession Church of the UOC in the village of Buderazh.

According to eyewitnesses, several cars with young men from neighboring settlements arrived at the church before dawn. The attackers broke down metal doors and entered the religious building, which is an architectural monument and belongs to the UOC religious community.

Residents called the police and representatives of the Rivne Diocese of the UOC.

That day, the police ultimately forced the OCU raiders to leave the church. The church was sealed pending a court decision.

February 24, 2019 Parishioners of St. Michael’s Church of the UOC in the village of Bushcha were unable to enter their church.

Supporters of the OCU, led by Serhii Kondrachuk, were waiting on church grounds. The head of the district administration claimed he had come to conduct an inventory of church property.

Believers were outraged by the actions of the official, who arrived in a remote village on his day off to set people against one another.

“I have the right to enter the church and conduct an inventory of cult property and items in accordance with Article 29 of the law,” Kondrachuk stated emotionally.

When asked which law he referred to and who granted him such authority, the official provided no clear answer.

To avoid confrontation, believers began serving a prayer service and akathist outside the church, while OCU supporters blocked the entrance.

Later, to prevent seizure, the church was sealed by the village council head and the UOC priest Archpriest Oleksandr Stetsiuk.

March 2, 2019 A group of OCU activists attempted to seize a UOC church in the village of Nova Moshchanytsia.

Serhii Kondrachuk, Head of the Zdolbuniv District State Administration, was present. His name is associated with numerous raider seizures of UOC churches in the district.

The attackers stormed the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God after the service, waiting until believers had left. The OCU raiders demanded the keys to the church.

July 18, 2020 Former head of the district administration Serhii Kondrachuk demanded that journalist Valentyna Illina, the wife of a UOC priest, not be hired. She had been invited to become editor-in-chief of the local newspaper Nove Zhyttia.

According to the journalist, Kondrachuk asked the newspaper’s owner to “correct the misunderstanding” and not appoint as editor-in-chief “a person with ‘Russkiy Mir views.’”

February 28, 2021 OCU Archbishop Ilarion Protsyk awarded law enforcement officers and Rivne Regional Council Chairman Serhii Kondrachuk “for services to the Local Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”

Kondrachuk received the Order of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Volodymyr the Great, 3rd Class.

All award recipients were direct participants or initiators of church conflicts in Rivne Region.

Under a post by UOC cleric Archpriest Vasyl Nachev, reminding that Kondrachuk personally broke church doors with a crowbar, Kondrachuk left a comment combining acknowledgment of bias and a threat:

“Father Vasyl, thank you for the congratulations! This award is an incentive for me to further strengthen the OCU in Rivne Region. See you!”

On May 20, 2022, at a regular session of the Rivne Regional Council, deputies did not support the draft decision to ban the UOC, which Kondrachuk was trying to “push through.”

As reported by the press service of the Rivne Diocese, the official-persecutor does not intend to retreat from his goal and plans to appeal to the Verkhovna Rada.

(Source: SPZh)

“This decision is the most important in my life,” Kondrachuk told the publication Rovno Vechirnie.

In an interview with Rovno Vechirnie, Kondrachuk also incites hatred against the UOC.

(Source: Rovno Vechirnie)

On May 28, 2022, Kondrachuk stated in the comments on the Facebook page of “bishop” of the OCU, Yevstratiy Zoria, that he would liquidate the UOC in the Rivne region.

Kondrachuk provided a link to the draft decision banning the UOC, published on the website of the Rivne Regional Council on May 4, 2022.

“We will liquidate it, at least in the Rivne region, by a decision of the session, the MP in Ukraine,” Kondrachuk wrote.

“The MP in Ukraine does not exist according to documents! How can one liquidate something that does not exist?” replied a user, Serhii Kunytskyi.

“I know, don’t worry. We will liquidate what exists according to documents,” Kondrachuk added.

(Source: SPZh)

In July 2022, believers of the Rivne Diocese of the UOC filed a complaint with the police against the Chairman of the Rivne Regional Council, Serhii Kondrachuk.

In the complaint, the believers stated that with Kondrachuk’s direct involvement their churches were being taken away. Parishioners of Rivne churches also informed law enforcement authorities that the official violated the equality of citizens and abused his official position.

“I have consistently, probably since 2008, maintained that in Ukraine in general and in the Rivne region in particular there should be nothing Russian: no Russian books, no Russian music, no Russian church. This is my consistent life position. I regard this as meaning that we are on the right path; we have an enemy, this is the last stronghold,” the chairman of the regional council commented on the believers’ claims.

The official’s comment constitutes self-disclosure.

On July 29, 2022, Serhii Kondrachuk gave an interview to the TV channel Rovno 1 regarding 26 signatures from fellow deputies calling for his removal from office.

When asked whether he saw the possibility of resolving his conflict with the UOC through unification with the OCU, he replied:

“I am not ready to unite with foul-smelling, shaggy, orthodox Church Slavonic monasticism.” In addition, the official accused Orthodox priests of “working for the FSB.”

Kondrachuk clarified that his struggle against the Church did not begin now, but “throughout his entire conscious life,” and that he would continue this war in the future.

On August 12, 2022, the official was prematurely removed from the post of head of the regional council as a result of a vote by deputies.

However, he left behind a certain legacy adopted on the same day as a result of his persistent efforts.

At the same session, deputies of the regional council considered two appeals regarding the activities of the UOC: one prepared by deputies of five factions, and one prepared by Kondrachuk. As a result, the first collective version—also hostile to the UOC—was adopted. Kondrachuk’s draft was rejected.

Before the vote, the official noted that a significant part of the text of the factions’ appeal was taken from his draft decision, from which the “mechanism” for banning the activities of the “Moscow Patriarchate” (the requirement for the Rivne Regional Military Administration to cancel the procedure for charters and state registration of UOC religious communities in the region) had been removed. Thus, according to Kondrachuk, the project became “declarative.”

(Source: Zerkalo Nedeli)

On April 10, 2023, a session of the Rivne Regional Council adopted an unlawful decision on the “Ban on the activities of the UOC MP” in the Rivne region.

In Rivne itself, deputies terminated the right to use land plots within the community that are used by the UOC.

During the debates, after the speech of the ruling hierarch of the Rivne Diocese of the UOC, Archbishop Pimen, Kondrachuk took the floor and made a statement bearing all the hallmarks of discrimination and incitement of hostility:

“The so-called Ukrainian Orthodox Church, known in society as the UOC MP, is a hostile, collaborationist organization toward Ukraine. I want to ask colleagues who allowed the previous speaker to come here and speak: when you pressed ‘give the floor,’ what guided you? If we were condemning, for example, the Wagnerites, would we want Prigozhin to stand at this rostrum and say that they are not terrorists? Why did you let them in here and why are you giving the floor to listen to this heresy?”

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