{"id":72161,"date":"2024-03-11T14:03:05","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T11:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/72161\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"orthodox-priest-leaves-belarus-after-serving-jail-terms","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/72161\/","title":{"rendered":"Orthodox priest leaves Belarus after serving jail terms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Chryscianskaja Vizija)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

March 11, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Ihor Kovalchuk, a former rector of the Orthodox parish in Raha\u010do\u016d, Homiel region, has left Belarus after serving two jail terms for alleged minor offenses, Chry\u015bcijanskaja Vizija reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kovalchuk, a Ukrainian national, was arrested on February 8 upon returning from Italy. Belarusian authorities jailed him for 15 days for subscriptions to opposition content found on his smartphone. On February 23, the priest was given another jail term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Orthodox priest, Belarusian Andrej Nozdryn, reportedly left Belarus in late 2023 after changing to the Polish Orthodox Church. He is now serving in Poland’s Podlaskie voivodeship. Belarusian authorities persecuted him because of his civil position. Nozdryn reportedly helped people arrested during 2020 postelection protests and later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2023, Orthodox priests Alaksandar Kukhta and Hieorhij Roj, who left Belarus over politically-motivated persecution, were accepted into the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. They founded a Belarusian parish in Lithuania’s Vilnius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church says they have no right to serve because they did not ask for an approval of their transfer to another Orthodox church, as Nozdryn did.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

March 11, Pozirk. Ihor Kovalchuk, a former rector of the Orthodox parish in Raha\u010do\u016d, Homiel region, has left Belarus after serving two jail terms for alleged minor offenses, Chry\u015bcijanskaja Vizija reports. Kovalchuk, a Ukrainian national, was arrested on February 8 upon returning from Italy. Belarusian authorities jailed him for 15 days for subscriptions to opposition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":72129,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-72161","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOrthodox priest leaves Belarus after serving jail terms | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"March 11, Pozirk. Ihor Kovalchuk, a former rector of the Orthodox parish in Raha\u010do\u016d, Homiel region, has left Belarus after serving two jail terms for\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/72161\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Orthodox priest leaves Belarus after serving jail terms | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"March 11, Pozirk. 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