The Odessa Prosecutor's Office has appealed the ruling on the UOC church to the Supreme Court

The Odessa Regional Prosecutor’s Office has appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn court rulings that recognized the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s (UOC) right to own the church dedicated to the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” in the city of Odessa. According to SPZh, citing its own sources, the prosecutor’s office is seeking to have the church seized by the state and transferred to the balance sheet of an educational institution.

According to the case file, the prosecutor’s office, representing the interests of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, insists on a review of the ruling of the Southwestern Economic Court of Appeals dated September 17, 2026, and the decision of the court of first instance dated May 6, 2025. The dispute concerns the church dedicated to the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign,” located on Inglezi Street in Odesa, which the supervisory agency is attempting to transfer to the Odesa Trade and Economic College.

Previously, courts at two levels ruled in favor of the faithful, establishing that the building was constructed with funds from the parish under a 2007 investment agreement. The parishioners’ contribution to the construction amounted to 84.9%. The judicial panel noted that the parish has continuously used the church for worship services since 2009, and that state authorities had raised no objections to its use for many years. It was also emphasized that the prosecutor’s office had chosen an inappropriate method to defend its claims.

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