Construction of a Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has begun in Kyiv near a kindergarten, despite protests from local residents

In Kyiv’s Obolon District, construction has begun on a church of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) in the immediate vicinity of a kindergarten. The authorities’ initiative has sparked strong discontent among local residents, who have been opposing the choice of this site for a religious building for several years.

According to and information from a source, the public’s outrage stems from the lack of a full-fledged public discussion of the project. Despite the fact that a petition calling for a halt to construction at this site gathered more than 6,000 signatures as early as 2024, work has begun. Residents claim that the permit from the Kyiv City State Administration was issued without taking public opinion into account, and that the meeting promised by a city council member amounted to nothing more than a formal presentation of the project.

Photos from the construction site posted on social media show heavy machinery and a group of men. Eyewitness accounts note the presence of people wearing balaclavas and even suggest that one of those present may have been armed; however, there is currently no documentary evidence to support these claims. The residents themselves emphasize that their protest is not directed against religion or the construction of the church per se—they are merely demanding a change of location and the holding of transparent public hearings that take into account the interests of the neighborhood’s residents.

As a reminder, residents of Ivano-Frankivsk have protested against the construction of a Greek Catholic church in the city. The religious building was supposed to be built on the shore of the city lake, but there turned out to be too many opponents of this idea in Ivano-Frankivsk.