In the Zhytomyr region, a representative of the OCU forcibly seized a church belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

An incident occurred in the village of Chernyavka, Zhytomyr Oblast, involving the forcible seizure of a church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) dedicated to St. Paraskeva the Great Martyr. Sergey Yanchuk, a cleric of the OCU, personally cut off the locks on the doors of the church, ignoring the rector’s calls for a legal resolution to the conflict.

According to and information from a source, before the use of force began, the church’s rector, Father Alexander, asked the OCU cleric to provide documents confirming ownership of the building, as well as copies of the minutes from the parish meeting. However, Sergei Yanchuk flatly refused to provide any evidence of the legality of his actions.

During the altercation, the OCU representative accused the UOC priest of working for the “aggressor state” and claimed that the UOC congregation had no rights to the property. After calling the rector an “enemy of the people,” the cleric proceeded to break the locks. After entering the church, he described the church property as “Moscow-owned.”

As a reminder, on June 23, 2026, in Odessa, representatives of the OCU, with the support of private security forces, seized the church dedicated to St. Alexander Nevsky. The seizure of the church was led by the so-called OCU chaplain, Theodore Orobets.