Cherkasy region: OCU raiders in camouflage seize UOC church in Drabiv

The UOC Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov in Drabiv. Photo: ua.igotoworld.com

On 4 October 2023, OCU supporters in camouflage uniforms broke the doors and seized the UOC Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov in the village of Drabiv, Cherkasy region, reports the rector of the church, Archpriest Dmytro Ivanusa.

According to the priest, he was informed about the seizure of the church when he was in a nursing home, which is cared for by the UOC community. Arriving at the church, he along with other believers noticed about 20 OCU supporters on the territory, including people in camouflage uniforms.

Fr. Dmytro noted that the OCU activists broke open the side doors of the church leading to the altar and entered the shrine, after which a visiting OCU "priest" held a "service" there.

"When we arrived, the gates were closed. Near the church territory, cars with Kyiv and Cherkasy licence plates were parked, on which the OCU activists had probably arrived," he said.

In addition, the rector noted that the law enforcers who arrived did not react in any way to the seizure of the church, "as the representatives of the OCU showed them the documents on the re-registration of the community".

Archpriest Dmytro Ivanusa assumes that the seizure happened with the participation of local authorities. According to him, at the time of the seizure near the temple was the secretary of the Drabiv OTG (united territorial community) Volodymyr Myroshnyk, who watched the actions of the OCU raiders.

"In addition to the doors to the temple, they broke the doors to the refectory. Every summer, for 10 years, at the temple we have had a children's camp. That's where we fed the children. As far as I know, they’re planning to break the doors to the building on the church grounds, where the Sunday school is located," he added.

The rector of the church recalled that in June 2023 his community was re-registered to the OCU without holding any meetings. At the same time, he said that the UOC believers held two community meetings at which they testified to their faithfulness to the UOC and to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry.

As reported, OCU supporters raided the UOC church in Zabuyannia, Kyiv region.

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