In Volyn, a woman was sentenced for making a false report that a church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had been booby-trapped

The Ratno District Court in Volyn Oblast handed down a verdict against Olga Zakharchuk, finding her guilty of knowingly making a false report about a planned bombing. The incident occurred on May 24, when the defendant reported to the police that the Holy Dormition Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Kortelisy had been booby-trapped.

According to the case file, after the call to the “102” emergency line, police officers and bomb disposal experts promptly arrived at the scene. During the inspection of the Holy Dormition Orthodox Church building, no suspicious objects were found. During the trial, Olga Zakharchuk fully admitted her guilt. She explained that she made the call while intoxicated after drinking wine with an acquaintance.

The court found the woman guilty under Part 1 of Article 259 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. She was sentenced to three years of imprisonment; however, taking into account the circumstances of the case, the court commuted the sentence to one year of probation. Additionally, as part of the punishment, the defendant’s Redmi Note 8T phone—used to commit the offense—was confiscated, and approximately 2,900 hryvnias in court costs were recovered from her account.

As a reminder, earlier in the village of Rovzhi in the Vyshhorod District of the Kyiv Region, a church dedicated to the Nativity of John the Baptist, belonging to the Boryspil Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, burned to the ground. The incident occurred on the night of January 25, 2026, in the “Druzhba” summer cottage community. Parishioners and the church’s rector, Archpriest Vladimir Denisenko, do not rule out the possibility that the fire was caused by arson, citing similar cases of the destruction of UOC churches in other regions.