"This Is Not a Church, But a Building with a Little Cross." A Nationalist from the AFU Admitted to Deliberately Shelling a UOC Church

On October 9, 2025, the television channel "Hovoryt Velykyi Lviv" ("Big Lviv Speaks") published an interview with Ruslan Koshulynskyi, head of the secretariat of the nationalist party All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda" and an active-duty serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

Host Malva Vovk and Koshulynskyi discussed the raid by police, the SBU, and unidentified individuals on the Holy Dormition Pochayiv Lavra.

Both Vovk and Koshulynskyi publicly employed hate rhetoric against UOC believers and clergy, endorsed repressions, and called for further violations of the rights of UOC faithful.

The host immediately let slip that before the war she had dreamed of repressive measures against Orthodox Christians, and that "searches of UOC monasteries were something she could only dream about."

Koshulynskyi continued to incite hatred, declaring that the UOC is "not a church."

Furthermore, AFU Sergeant and extremist Koshulynskyi stated that "one of his friends, a mortar operator" at the front during combat operations — when there was a risk of hitting a UOC church with a mortar round — assured those present that it was not a problem, "because that's not a church."

"They were firing, and one man says: 'Look, I can see there's a church there.' The commander, apparently, was a good, normal Ukrainian. He says: 'That's not a church. That's the Moscow Patriarchate. A building with a little cross.' That is, it is not a Church, and our officials need to understand this. It is a threat. And it must be shut down as quickly as possible," Koshulynskyi stated.

From the context of Koshulynskyi's statements and from alternative sources that described a similar situation in detail, it is clear that the servicemen in question did not merely express hatred, but encouraged and carried out the shelling of the church.

(Source: TV channel "Great Lviv Speaks")

BACKGROUND. Ruslan Koshulynskyi is a Ukrainian politician, Deputy Chairman of the far-right party All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda" and head of the party's secretariat.

From 2012 to 2014, he served as Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. He was an active participant in the Euromaidan. He was a candidate in Ukraine's 2019 presidential election, receiving 1.63% of the vote (9th place nationwide).

A combat veteran, Senior Sergeant of the AFU, and curator of the "Legion of Freedom," composed primarily of radical nationalists.