Archpriest Victor Talko
Archpriest Viktor Talko
Date of birth: 1955.
Rector of the Church of the Archangel Michael of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Borodyanka, Kyiv Oblast.
He found himself in the occupied territories during the Russian offensive on Kyiv. He rescued the wounded, evacuated people from the combat zone, and helped local residents.
He was careless enough to give a brief comment to Russian military propaganda journalists, offering political opinions and critical remarks about Ukrainian realities.
(Source: Komsomolskaya Pravda)
For this, he is repeatedly subjected to harassment.
In 2022, Father Viktor was detained by the SBU for the first time and held for six days.
"After the Russians were driven out of Borodyanka, I was taken to the SBU." They held me for six days. It's certainly better not to end up there... I gave explanations every day, and they checked my testimony. On the sixth day, in the evening, they released me."
"...when they took me to the SBU—by the way, they also came with machine guns, right during the service. Our parishioners tried to defend me, but I came out and said, 'No need.' And I asked the SBU officers, 'Let me finish the service.' The service ended, and I left with them."
On July 7, 2023, the SBU detained the cleric for the second time.
Allegedly on suspicion of assisting in the evacuation of residents of the region to Belarus. Moreover, the SBU rebroadcast the story, repeatedly repeated in the media, about a "torture chamber in his church," which has still not been substantiated.
"The Security Service is investigating the collaborationist activities of the rector of the UOC (MP) church in the village of Borodyanka." Viktor Talko. Information is currently being investigated regarding his possible assistance in the forced deportation of nearly 100 residents of the Kyiv region to Belarus during the temporary occupation of the region. Furthermore, SBU officers are investigating the circumstances of the operation of a Russian prison on the church grounds, which Talko operates," the SBU statement reads.
A criminal case was opened against the priest under Part 4 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Criminal Code) for "collaboration activity." The penalty for this offense is imprisonment for up to five years.
Subsequently, information about the so-called "torture" and other illegal actions would be repeatedly denied by local residents and other volunteers who visited Borodyanka.
In particular, by volunteer Pavel, who was on the church grounds for the entire period of Borodyanka's occupation.
Pavel explained that the original source of the fake story about a supposed "basement under the church that housed a torture chamber for occupation forces" were two volunteers who lived with him.
They all found refuge in the church after being detained and robbed by occupation forces near Borodyanka. Pavel claimed that Russian soldiers never entered the church grounds, and Father Victor never spoke to them.
The fake story about a "basement-torture chamber" is refuted by the fact that there isn't a single basement on the grounds of St. Michael's Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Pavel emphasized that the priest cared for both the volunteers and the local residents, providing food from the religious community's old reserves.
The two volunteers who authored the fake story, in turn, maintained contact with the occupation forces. Moreover, they were allowed to leave Borodyanka before everyone else.
Ten volunteers living on the temple grounds sent a letter to the SBU headquarters, testifying to the truth and refuting the lies of their colleagues.
On July 9, 2023, a group of OCU activists held an illegal vote to "transfer" the Church of the Archangel Michael, whose rector is Father Victor, to their jurisdiction.
The event was accompanied by a number of violations.
On July 15, 2023, Borodyanka residents who survived the occupation, parishioners of the Church of the Archangel Michael in Borodyanka, recorded a video message refuting all accusations against the church's rector, Archpriest Victor Talko.
Thus, one parishioner recounted that during the war, when all the authorities fled, only Father Victor remained and helped local residents, including helping bury her fallen relatives.
Another noted, "All the authorities fled when the war began, and Father Victor was the only one left. Everyone turned to him, both believers and non-believers. He fed everyone here, protected them, and buried the dead. They slander that torture took place in the basement of our church. Our church does not have a basement. It's simply terrifying to read all this nonsense; a normal person couldn't comprehend it all."
On the night of November 20, 2023, in Borodyanka, Kyiv Oblast, representatives of the OCU seized the UOC Church of the Archangel Michael, whose rector is Father Viktor Talko.
According to available information, on the night of November 20, an OCU cleric entered the UOC Church of the Archangel Michael in Borodyanka. He brought with him a group of people in military uniforms, who stormed the shrine.
While parishioners were praying in their church, raiders cut the locks on the doors, after which, according to local residents, "a massacre began, in which the raiders were assisted by the police."
КУ ст. 35 (свобода вероисповедания) · ЕСПЧ ст. 9 · Нормы ООН