Supreme Court of Ukraine finally assigns Holy Trinity Church of UOC of Kremenchuk to OCU

The Commercial Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court of Ukraine has put an end to a long-running dispute over the jurisdictional affiliation of the Holy Trinity Church in Kremenchuk. The court dismissed the cassation appeal of representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), confirming the legality of the religious community’s transfer to the OCU.

According to Telegraf, the decision was made on May 19. The initiator of the cassation was Metropolitan Nikolai (Kapustin) of Kremenchuk and Lubny of the UOC, who tried to appeal the previous court decisions. Earlier, the Eastern Economic Court of Appeal and the Economic Court of Poltava Region also recognized the transition of the community to the OCU as lawful. Now, according to the verdict of the highest court, the church remains at the disposal of the OCU.

It is worth noting that the process of the so-called re-registration of religious objects of the UOC in Kremenchuk began in September the year before last and affected two large churches: Holy Trinity Church and the Holy Dormition Cathedral. In addition to the legal aspect, the situation has also affected the city’s infrastructure. In late December 2024, the dismantling of the fence around the Trinity Church began. The local authorities and the religious community of the OCU plan to arrange a public square on the vacated territory.

As reported, on December 9, the Eastern Economic Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Mykola of Kremenchuk and Lubny, in the case of re-registration of the Holy Trinity religious community of the UOC of Kremenchuk to the OCU.