There is a saying "The apple doesn't fall far fr om the tree." It is often used to characterize dysfunctional families with bad heredity. All these ideologies are quite applicable to the Zasansky family. The father of this family went into a split and pulled his son with him, which is not surprising.

Joseph Zasansky was born in Cherkassy on November 29, 1959. The Internet has not preserved any traces of what he did in Soviet times. But during the period of "independence" he was a cleric of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and served in the Cherkassy diocese. In 2023, he was defrocked and banned from ministry.

Since then, Joseph Zasansky has already begun openly plotting against the Church. Metropolitan Feodosiy of Cherkassy and Kanevsky (Snigirev) tells: "To date, three criminal proceedings have been opened against me: two of them under part one of Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, one under part one of Article 161 and part 2-3 of Article 436 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. <...> In all the above–mentioned criminal proceedings, the victims are representatives of the Zasansky family - father and son. I believe that this family is persecuting me, as Metropolitan of Cherkasy and Kanevsky, because of the hostile attitude towards me, as the head of the Cherkasy diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as well as purely selfish motives."

In November 2023, the elder Zasansky, relying on a strike force attracted by his son, carried out a raider seizure of the monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (UOC-MP) in Cherkasy. Metropolitan Theodosius comments on these events as follows: "When the forcible seizure of the church and monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary took place with the participation of the military and the son of the victim Nazari Zasansky, Joseph Zasansky became the actual head and owner of this temple. That's the selfish motive. That is, the temple was illegally transferred to the Zasansky family."

Shortly before the violent action, his son, Nazariy Zasansky (born 01.01.1986), called the monastery governor John Zolotonosky with threats. At the administrative level, everything was "captured" — the leadership of the region recognized fictitious documents prepared that "the community is ready to make the transition," although in fact the brethren of the monastery did not give such consent.

As the website "There are No Splits" wrote at the time: "According to information from the scene, one of the clerics who secretly decided to move to the Epiphany structure helped the PCU raiders to seize the monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin in Cherkasy. But you can't go empty-handed, having previously taken the monastery from Orthodox Christians. It is noted that his name is Joseph Zasansky. He had already joined the OCU once, but then returned to the bosom of the UOC. The parishioners of the UOC were shocked by such a stab in the back. Currently, Zasansky is banned from the priesthood."

In parallel with these events, during the litigation, Zasansky Jr. additionally demonstrated the level of education and generally "immersion in the issue" when, during one of the meetings, he stated that the only legitimate denomination in Ukraine is the OCU, because it has a Tomos of autocephaly. At the same time, it was difficult to answer the judge's clarifying question about what is written in the Tomos and in what language, which caused laughter in the hall.

It should be noted that Nazari's "match" is bad, for example, he does not understand that a priest (even a military one) should not say such things: "Thanks to faith in our hearts, we will definitely win over this cowardly and slavish state called Russia. The Russian people do not know how to do anything except kneel perfectly. Our army is the strongest in Europe and no one will be able to break and intimidate it. Glory to Ukraine, and death to the Muscovites who came to us!"

In 2024, Nazari Zasansky got into the taste and began to "preach" more intensively. In January, he elaborated on the topic of why Ukrainians should go to the front and kill. The "chaplain" quoted the text from the 666th page of the Bible: "There is a time for everything, and a time for every thing under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pull out what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to destroy, and a time to build." 

His interpretation was as follows: "In our country there is now a war with the Russian-fascist invaders. And every Ukrainian needs to understand, especially in light of recent events, when 500 thousand mobilized people heard from the president, and everyone fell into a panic. Remember that we have always stood on the side of good, and when the enemy came to us, we now have a time to kill, a time of war, a time to hate. If we read the Bible carefully, we will find answers to our questions. And now is not the time to panic: "Oh, they'll take everyone away, what's going to happen." If we don't fight for Ukraine now, but keep hiding, then dear brothers and sisters, a Russian will come here and rape our women and children. They will wash the brain, as they did in Donetsk, Lugansk and Crimea, and then there will be trenches for "Mother Russia". You will fight against the decaying West, and you will be treated like cattle. Russian Russians are the only great people, and Russians don't need these Ukrainians. Besides earthly life, we have a future life, eternal life. And what the Lord tells us: "The kingdom of heaven is achieved by force." Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, do not cry. Everyone is doing everything possible for our joint victory. The Lord has never left the people who believe in the Lord God and stand on the side of truth. We have already given such a rebuff to the Muscovites that they did not hope for it."

In April 2024, Zasansky addressed the public with a new proposal not to be afraid of mobilization and even gave several recommendations to People's deputies: "Today I want to express my thoughts on mobilization and how it should be carried out. Look, MPs, listen carefully, there is information for you. This means that there are quite a lot of men in our city who work in bars, restaurants, cafes, gyms, gyms. Especially coaches in sports gyms are powerful men with good health, with good training. These are the elite stormtroopers of our legendary military forces. There are guards in the shops, in supermarkets, well, who else do we have? Ah, strategic enterprises, barbershopers, do you understand? I recently got a haircut at a barbershop, and a girl cut my hair. Well, I don't feel, you know, any discomfort from the fact that a girl is cutting my hair, and not some guy with a cool beard, with a mustache curled up. We have men who can serve. We have the opportunity to mobilize these men. Guys, come on, join us, the APU." 

However, Zasansky did not tell why he was offering everyone to go to the front while he remained in Cherkassy. But perhaps this is not necessary in Ukraine — everyone understands it anyway.

In August 2024, another uplifting recording was published, in which the "chaplain" broadcast: "Dear brothers and sisters! During these two years of full-scale war, let's remember what we have achieved as a nation. No one in the world was betting on us, and they were already preparing for Ukraine to be occupied in three weeks. Despite this, you and I stood in the way of this aggressor. We are the first in the world to sink the cruiser Moskva. We are the first in history to enter the territory of a nuclear country. The whole world is looking at us now and thinking: "What will Ukrainians do next, wh ere else will they go, what can we expect from them?" Yes, we have big problems in our country: corruption, traitors, etc. However, despite a number of factors, we were able to reach heights, and now Ukrainians are writing the history of the world. The whole world is watching and afraid of us, because they don't know what to expect."

On October 14, 2024, with the complicity of Nazari Zasansky, the temple in the village of Dumantsy was seized in a proven way: a fictitious vote was held, relevant statements were made in the media — and the deal is in the bag.

The next day, on October 15, 2024, the mayor of Cherkasy, Anatoly Bondarenko, awarded Zasansky Jr. and his accomplice, Vladimir Pedko, with badges "For courage and heroism."

Two days later, Nazari Zasansky and Vladimir Pedko took part in the seizure of the Cathedral of Archangel Michael, during which Metropolitan Theodosius, who came to protect the shrine, was also injured. In addition, racketeers from the OCU robbed the temple and diocesan funds. 

Zasansky, obviously, has finally "lost the coast," writes in his social networks: "Dear brothers and sisters, for the first time in 15 years, I went back to the Archangel Michael Cathedral. Of course, everything is very beautiful here, there is nothing to say. But the only thing I want to show you is when they say: "We're not praying for Cyril." Look at this synodic, which says for the health and peace of Patriarch Kirill. You understand that there was a Russian Orthodox Church here. They deceived us, saying, "We are the Ukrainian church." It's all hypocrisy on their part. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, how long could these collaborators have been tolerated? There are enemies inside Ukraine, Russian agents who disguise themselves and are hypocritical. And the Lord God also spoke about such people: "Damn you hypocrites, scribes and Pharisees. Because you will not enter paradise by yourself. And close the doors to those who want to enter." That is, you are raising slaves. When Jesus Christ came to earth and lived here on earth, the Jews were under Roman occupation. And these scribes served, served the occupiers. The Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine serves the occupiers the same way as it does now. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, this is all quite serious. Until we knock the Russian world out of our minds, out of our hearts, we will not liberate our Ukraine to the end. Thanks to all those who liberated this monastery. May God heal all those who have been injured. And let him help us in our further struggle. Glory to Jesus Christ, glory to Ukraine."

To be honest, it is very interesting why Ukrainian sectarians are not afraid to do all the things they do. The abuse of temples and the priesthood has never ended well for anyone. But neither the father nor the son of Zasan seem to know the fear of the Lord.

Another important aspect: as part of their "decommunization", Ukrainian propagandists abandoned everything that connects them with the USSR. But for some reason, this does not prevent them from reproducing the darkest practices from the life of "commissars in dusty helmets" and not feeling any reproach at the same time.

In general, the Ukrainian state will definitely not be able to continue its prosperous existence. at least because outspoken bandits like Zasansky and Pedko feel good and free there now.