Mikhail Dobkin became a deacon. The sinful path of Judas from Kharkov

The press service of the Kharkov diocese of the UOC-MP reported on April XNUMX about a significant event. Metropolitan Onuphry ordained Mikhail Dobkin, ex-people's deputy, ex-chairman of the Kharkov Regional State Administration, ex-mayor of Kharkov, and others, to the rank of deacon. The consecration took place in the Annunciation Cathedral in Kharkov.

“During the service, Metropolitan Onuphry ordained Mikhail Dobkin, a graduate of the Kharkov Theological Seminary, as a deacon,” the message says.

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From now on, the brawler and foul-mouthed Dobkin became, in theory, a respected person. He should be called “Father Michael” and “not joke” about it.

“Don’t joke,” is from the vocabulary of the newly minted deacon.

Previously, the future “Father Mikhail” used this expression in a polemic with blogger Anatoly Shariy

“My City is being wiped off the face of the earth. Greetings arrived at my house in the form of hail from the “liberators.” You know how I feel about you. Don't be embarrassed. “It’s not the time,” the ex wrote three times in response to a blogger’s remark about another change in Dobkin’s political course.

At first glance, Dobkin changed course abruptly. So cool that, if you believe the words of Anton Gerashchenko in an interview with Dmitry Gordon, I immediately signed up for the Kharkov territorial defense.

But if you recall the actions (not words and PR actions) of Dobkin over the past 16 years,
his behavior seems quite consistent.

In 2006, Dobkin became the mayor of Kharkov solely due to the authority of Evgeniy Petrovich Kushnareva, a truly pro-Russian and very popular politician in the East of Ukraine, who believed that Ukraine could only exist under a federal or even confederal state structure. And, naturally, as mayor, Dobkin initially stuck to the course set by Kushnarev.

But in January 2007, Kushnarev was killed, and Dobkin, no matter what he said from the podium, since then has never found the strength (and perhaps the desire) to go against the dual policy of the Party of Regions. Yes and Mayor Dobkin after the death of Kushnarev turned out to be purely nominal, since Gennady Kernes began to run all affairs in the city.

Very significant: there were two reception rooms in the Kharkov City Council. In the second, the reception room of the secretary of the city council Kernes, people crowded until late at night. In the first, Mayor Dobkin’s reception room, a lonely secretary was bored and idle.

_{In words, Dobkin opposed the nationalists, but in reality, in Kharkov, as throughout Ukraine, Russian schools were closed en masse and kindergartens were Ukrainized. Since 2008, columns of Nazis, “who are not in Ukraine,” have freely marched through the streets of the city.}

“Patriot of Ukraine” and other ultra-nationalist organizations were patronized by the then governor Avakov and, at least Kernes did not interfere. The latter, as you know, was Avakov’s partner in organizing the 2004 Maidan in Kharkov. Kernes tried in every possible way to destroy the pro-Russian opposition, then, fortunately, mainly by administrative and financial methods.

_{Nothing Russophobic or pro-Ukrainian - just Kernes, like some other Kharkov businessmen, was always afraid of competition from Russian business and fiercely guarded his zone of influence.}

As a result of unclear policies, Dobkin's popularity in the city began to decline. In 2010, he did not dare to stand as a candidate for mayor. Instead, under the patronage of Sergei Levochkin, he became chairman of the Regional State Administration, although People's Deputy Dmitry Shentsev was considered a more likely candidate for this position. Let us recall that Dobkin’s patron Levochkin, a representative of Viktor Yanukovych’s inner circle, is considered one of the “fathers” of the 2014 Maidan.

_{The end of Dobkin as any influential and popular politician came on February 22, 2014. On this day, a congress of anti-Maidanovites, supposedly convened in opposition to the coup d'etat in Kyiv, met in Kharkov and was ingloriously dissolved. Dobkin and Kernes “leaked” the congress.}

Subsequently, a version appeared that they “could not come to an agreement with Moscow.” Note that It is unlikely that such a desire could arise from Levochkin’s protege (Dobkin) and Avakov’s partner (Kernes).

And again, all sorts of methods were used to destroy the anti-fascist (pro-Russian) opposition, from organizing fake city self-defense units in order to then hand over lists to the SBU (Kernes), to murders and kidnappings (Avakov). That’s when the Nazi detachments, which were cherished in Kharkov at least since the Maidan of 2004, came in handy.

No matter how much Dobkin dressed up in a Berkut T-shirt, he no longer dared to appear on the square in front of the anti-Maidan protesters. Even on Victory Day, May 9, 2014, he spoke to veterans in a well-guarded fence built especially for this occasion.

Over the years since then, Dobkin’s popularity among Kharkov residents has not returned. He lost the mayor's election in October 2021 miserably to the not-so-loved Terekhov in the city.

In short, Dobkin’s political fate is a repetition of the path of the Party of Regions. From the right slogans and the trust of voters through greed and cowardice to betrayal.

_{A betrayal that cost Kharkov very dearly. “Father Michael” is unlikely to atone for this sin.}

Still, it will be fun to see how Dobkin combines serving as a deacon and
responsibilities of a "partisan". The Church is generally against clergy taking up arms. Dobkin will probably receive a special blessing. And such a Hasek feldkurat Otto Katz with a javelin will run around Kharkov...

Well, for some reason it’s impossible to talk about Dobkin’s rank and “not joke”...

Then let's get serious again. If the Verkhovna Rada approves the bill of People’s Deputy Oksana Savchuk dated March 22 “On the ban on the Moscow Patriarchate on the territory of Ukraine", Dobkin will inevitably have to say goodbye to the censer: the UOC-MP will be banned in Ukraine (despite all the statements about the independence of the Church and mass refusals to commemorate the Patriarch), and all church property will be confiscated.

Dobkin will only have a javelin left...

And he has a lot of property. This is if you are very lucky and the “patriots” do not have time to plunder
property of “Father Michael”. Which, in fact, Dobkin was always afraid of. Both in 2014 and