The Rivne City Council lost a court case to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church community regarding the expropriation of the historic Church of the Dormition

The Economic Court of the Rivne Region issued a ruling stating that ownership of the Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God in the city of Rivne—an architectural monument of national significance—has been transferred to the Holy Dormition Religious Community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. According to the OGO.ua, the court granted the believers’ claim, ruling that the city authorities’ actions to register the building as municipal property were invalid.

According to the case file, the Church of the Dormition, built in 1756 without a single metal nail, has been the subject of a long-standing legal dispute. In October 2023, the Rivne City Council included the building on the list of municipal property, arguing that the structure had been on the city’s books for decades. However, representatives of the community successfully proved that the transfer process had not been coordinated with the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, which is a mandatory requirement for properties of this status.

The court applied the provisions of the Civil Code regarding acquisitive prescription, taking into account the fact that the community had openly and in good faith used the church for worship services for decades. Another key argument was the lack of evidence that the city had allocated budget funds for the maintenance or restoration of the architectural monument.

In addition to recognizing the religious community’s right of ownership, the court revoked the Rivne City Council’s registration of ownership and ordered the municipality to reimburse the legal costs. It is worth noting that, despite the legal disputes, the cathedral’s status as an architectural monument of national significance remains unchanged, which imposes strict obligations regarding its preservation regardless of who owns the building.

As a reminder, the Supreme Court of Ukraine had previously ruled that the expropriation of the land plot on which the Cathedral of the Ternopil Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church—dedicated to the Martyrs Vera, Hope, Love, and Sophia, and the premises of the diocesan administration. Previously, the land plot had been expropriated from the Church by a decision of the Ternopil City Council and transferred to the ownership of the local community of the OCU.