Court of Appeal finds re-registration of Holy Dormition parish of UOC in Kremenchuk illegal

On April 23, 2026, the Northern Economic Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the Holy Dormition religious community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in Kremenchuk, invalidating its forced re-registration in favor of the OCU. This verdict overturns the decision of the court of first instance and restores the legal status of the community, with immediate effect.

According to the UOC Information and Education Department, citing Archpriest Nikita Chekman’s lawyer, the appellate court fully upheld the complaint of the community rector. The court overturned the previous decision of the Economic Court of Kyiv of September 15, 2025 in case No. 910/14325/24, which had previously legalized the change of confessional affiliation.

According to the court’s ruling, key legal acts were invalidated: the minutes of the meeting on the transition of the community from the UOC to the OCU, the new version of the charter of the religious organization, as well as the order of the regional state administration, on the basis of which the changes were registered. Lawyer Mykyta Chekman called the decision “an important victory in the protection of the rights of the Church” and emphasized that it is a clear confirmation that illegal actions of state bodies can and should be challenged in court. At the end of his statement, he thanked the faithful for their prayerful support and emphasized that the work on the legal protection of church communities will continue.

Earlier, we reported that in the city of Bila Tserkva, Kyiv region, another church was taken away from the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in favor of the OCU. It is a church in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon. According to media reports, the church was taken away from the UOC religious community by court order. Mykola Hopainych, a chaplain of the OCU, was in charge of the procedure.