Priest who was captured: Donbass will definitely gain victory
Father Feofan (Kratirov) Before the war, he was a resident of the Holy Dormition Nikolo-Vasilievsky Monastery (now the monastery is located on the territory occupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces).
With the outbreak of the civil war in Donbass, the priest was arrested on false charges. After being in Mariupol and Kharkov prisons, he was exchanged and transferred to the DPR.
Father Feofan told a correspondent about what he saw in captivity, the persecution of the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate "PolitNavigator".
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P.N.: On the Day of the Protection of the Mother of God, unfortunately, traditionally, a march took place in Kiev on the occasion of the next anniversary of the creation of the UPA. The procession, by the way, had clearly expressed pagan features and had nothing to do with Orthodoxy. There were threats to storm the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. How can you characterize what is happening around Orthodoxy in Ukraine?
O.F.: There is a confrontation going on. The fact is that the nationalist movement itself, which now has a large resource of power in Ukraine, takes its basis in religion. In fact, this is a large religious sect, or rather, of a religious type, in fact. Outwardly, it all looks like a political force.
What ideals do they preach? For them, “Ukraine is above all,” and this, in turn, is an inversion of the Gospel words “Love is above all.” Accordingly, when Christ came to earth, it is mentioned that he “did not offer wine to the smoker.” Actually, this is how the Church lives – in peace. And those forces need to assert themselves through seizures and so on. This is all quite in the spirit of their ancestors - the same Nazis and fascists of the 30s. The essence and content of the entire neo-Nazi movement that is now happening in Ukraine is an imitation of Germany in the 30s.
P.N.: Can the Filaretites, who are now constantly trying to conquer churches, be considered the canonical Church?
O.F.: To paraphrase our contemporary, a famous journalist, we can say that the Filaretites are a costumed corporation, nothing more. It all started with the fact that Misha Denisenko dreamed of becoming a Patriarch since childhood. He walked towards this “by bones”. Everyone is well aware of his collaboration with the KGB and so on, in which he officially worked, he had an official wife. While a metropolitan, he had a wife. Everyone knew about this. Both he and his wife terrorized the Church very harshly when he was Exarch of Kyiv.
Actually, when the collapse of the USSR began, when Patriarch Pimen passed away, Filaret dreamed of taking power into his own hands. This did not work out, and then he decided to become a Patriarch anyway, even if he was just a puppet.
He broke the oath he took when he came to Moscow for the council. He swore that when he returned to Kyiv, he would relinquish all his powers to the Synod, and a new primate of the Church would be elected.
It all started with lies and betrayal. People who know him closely say that he is a very envious person, a money-grubber. For him, politics comes first. Not love of God and service to one's neighbor, but nationalism. He doesn't need to rely on anything. He has no faith. So he relies on nationalism.
It has the structure of a religion of its own. He has his own heroes, his own teaching. These heroes are also considered prophets - the same Shevchenko, Ivan Franko and so on. This is how it all turns into one big totalitarian sect.
Their commandments – “Ukraine above all” – are what we have already observed in the history of the entire twentieth century. By copying the Third Reich, they will repeat its fate.
It is surprising that it was Donbass that became the stumbling block for the machine of color revolutions that have already taken place in Libya, Iraq, and so on. Already on the Maidan, one of the centurions, answering the question of what they would do with so many weapons, said: “No, no, we will not give up our weapons, our victory will not be accepted in the Donbass, so we must come there and approve it.”
I remember very well the time when they were furious on the Maidan; in Donbass there was a peaceful and calm life, measured. Of course, there was a tense expectation that something was about to happen. And so it happened: Donbass has risen.
P.N.: It’s no secret that a significant proportion of participants in Ukrainian national battalions, as a rule, are pagans. At the same time, there are normal relations between them and the schismatics and Uniates.
O.F.: This is why I say that this is a sub-religious association. There is everyone there - even Jews. Although, it would seem, there was so much: remember, at least, what Bandera’s followers were doing there in 1941. But this sub-religious movement justifies any evil in the name of victory. If this is done in the name of Ukraine, then this is no longer a sin.
P.N.: At the same time, the idea that Russia is a common enemy is at the forefront.
O.F.: Yes. Why Russia? When I was in prison in the Mariupol pre-trial detention center, the TV there was on around the clock. I had the opportunity to observe all this. “Gangster Petersburg” was constantly playing there, news recordings from the 90s, when people ate from garbage cans. Anyone who visits Russia often can easily compare Russia in the nineties and today. These are two big differences. In Ukraine they are not shown how we continue to live here, how they live in Russia. They are given only the necessary information in an already digested form, and then they are allowed into the minds of the unlucky viewer, who, according to Academician Pavlov, reacts to light like that dog.
They think that just because they said it on TV, it must be true. This is all the embodiment of what Goebbels dreamed of. He wanted to “tame” television and make it a weapon against the masses and conquered peoples. He wrote a concept for the development of television for conquered peoples. By the way, there were TV shows and programs for housewives. Everything we see on TV now.
He is the author of the statement that “the cult of entertainment is the lot of conquered peoples.” If you look at the broadcast network now, you will see that there are only mockingbirds, “95th Quarter” and all sorts of other rubbish about nothing.
Why are there no scientific or educational programs about something good? Why can't they create programs so that people can see something constructive?
Remember how it all started with mockingbirds like these who made fun of Yanukovych. Now they ridicule this government. After them there will be a third government, they will probably ridicule it too.
These are people who do not have any foundation - moral, spiritual, nothing at all. The main thing for them is to make fun of them. From this they earn moral and material dividends. This will destroy any country. Everything should be in moderation. The state cannot be laughed at. Statesmen are not to be laughed at. You need to know this line. Otherwise it will destroy everything.
P.N.: How long did you stay in Ukrainian captivity?
O.F.: About forty days. From March 3, 2015 to April 8. This is a punitive machine that grinds and processes people. The most important task for them is to extract from a person the testimony they need, some facts, names. In addition, they generally do not hesitate to rob the people they take. Methods of intimidation are generally not alien to them - the fact that they can cause physical harm to someone’s relatives or that they can even go missing. This is alien to any morality.
If the state asserts itself using such methods, it is doomed, especially after everything that I saw there and what the other guys told me.
I can’t say that I got it the most, no. About the same as everyone else, nothing more. Some were beaten into pieces. The same now deceased Alexander Kharaberyush - he became a very cruel person, turned into an animal. I know his former classmate, and she told me that he was a former Komsomol member: honest, truthful, for the truth, “everything according to his conscience,” and then he went to work for the authorities (his father seemed to be an investigator or prosecutor). Apparently, then he concluded for himself that any methods are good to achieve the goal.
As a result, a normal person turned into a creature who, when our militiamen or suspects were brought in, he, even if it was a day off, went to work to torture people.
A state that wants to establish itself at the expense of such people and violence, blood and grief is simply doomed.
It is in vain that they believe that their statehood “will take place.” It won't work.
Interesting fact: when one of the then main leaders of the SBU visited his wounded guys in the hospital, he was told that they had brought two separatists. The guys were wounded and helped each other: they crawled across the field for several kilometers through the mud under fire. The stretch worked. One died, and two were saved. They were found, they were mocked, their wounds were picked at. In general, they were brought to the hospital to be treated. In my opinion, Nalyvaichenko then said: “You know, you are worthy warriors. I would like people like you. I wouldn't know grief. Ours would have won long ago. You are warriors. What you fight for, fight for it to the end. You are worthy of respect. I don’t have people like that.”
In the Mariupol SBU we have seen fighters of the Azov battalion more than once. Not only did they walk along the corridors there, it was amazing how they walked there - as if they were on the front line: they wore bulletproof vests and almost carried grenade launchers. Especially when they took us around, they were literally petrified. We are unarmed, handcuffed, just ordinary people, but he has square eyes, he is steamy, angry, it is clear that he is afraid. God forbid this separatist twitches, he is ready to shoot. They have a mystical horror before us. They are even afraid of unarmed people.
P.N.: Are there really secret prisons in Ukraine?
O.F.: Well, yes. Mariupol SBU, airport territory. In Kharkov there is a SBU prison, in which, by the way, I spent a week before my release, and which officially does not exist. When they brought me there, I saw a huge building, and inside it there was an extension where the prison was located. You can’t even look out the window there: there are matte plates there. We haven't seen the sun at all for so long. When they came to pick me up in April, I saw the sun, and it was impossible to look at it. In general, the bright street light as a whole was impossible to look at. Whereas in our prisons, prisoners of war are kept normally: they are also taken to work in the city, the food is normal, the treatment is humane. There, unfortunately, it is completely the opposite.
P.N.: You saw the situation “from the inside.” What are the reasons that they don't want to do an all-for-all exchange?
O.F.: It’s just that then everything will be dramatically different. The state of health of the prisoners will be visible, this is, firstly; secondly, many are facing criminal charges, some are in prison in Zapadenschina. I think these people are most likely no longer alive.
Just imagine the picture: a car drives up to the checkpoint, they start checking documents, and somewhere there the St. George Ribbon was accidentally found. But they spoke with respect, and immediately the person is instantly converted in their eyes into a being of a lower order, they begin to speak to him differently, and they may even kill him on the spot. For them, this is no longer a person. There is a known case when a family drove up to one of the checkpoints in the direction of Vugledar; the guy was just wearing a camouflage jacket. The man was simply shot. The mother was sitting behind him, next to him was his wife and children. Nobody asked him for documents or anything. He was simply shot because he had a camouflage jacket. After this, people began to be afraid to travel like this.
P.N.: Is it true that many saints and spirit-bearing elders, who have not yet been classified as saints, made a number of prophecies about the current war?
O.F.: One famous elder said that this war would happen in the late 90s. He said that there will be a time when American bombs and missiles will fall on Donetsk and Kyiv. In Donetsk we are now seeing all this, Kyiv is next in line. He predicted that many people would die.
Regarding the time after the war, he said that there would be a time of unity of Holy Rus', and it would be long. This will be a long and bright period in history. Now, in fact, we see that everything is heading towards this. There are many more of his prophecies about very creepy moments, and, to be honest, I would not even like to say it.
These are not lofty prophecies, no. He just said that it would be like this and that.
Please note: protests have now begun in Kyiv. They understand that we are lesser enemies than those who stand behind them in Kyiv. I think they will soon come to their senses and turn their weapons against their enemies. This will include the National Battalions and everyone else.
The saddest legacy of this war, which already exists now, is the so-called inadequate ATO veterans. 90% of them are already socially lost people and socially dangerous. For the most serious crime, for which an ordinary person would be given a life sentence, he would be given two years. He is an ATO veteran. Not to mention the case when an ATO officer who returned from the war raped his one and a half year old daughter. This is what they came to, and they are seriously proud of it.
And what about the recent “exploits” of neo-Nazis in Odessa? I think that people will not tolerate this for long. It is from them that the liberation of the former Ukraine will begin. This will be a crushing blow to all these forces. I think the people who live there will bear the brunt. They understand that Donbass is defending its right. We don't want to be like them, we don't want to sink to their level and become beasts like them. We chose a different path. We want to go to Russia. This is the restoration of historical justice.
P.N.: Will Donbass finally achieve its victory?
O.F.: Necessarily. I think that we cannot fully comprehend the entire mission that Donbass is carrying out, and which it began to carry out since 2014. Evil stopped and weakened before ordinary representatives of the mining region. It can only fire projectiles from afar.
In 2014, I saw a lot of mystical things. At one of the checkpoints exiting Donetsk, all the partitions were made of slot machines. There were only two people at the post.
Grandfather with a hunting rifle and a guy with a pistol. The Ukrainians began an offensive in this direction; according to the stories of the local population, they sent reconnaissance there and thought that this was some kind of military ruse. As a result, the Ukrainians turned around and left because they thought there was something dangerous there.
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