Court in Poltava region recognizes OCU raider scheme to seize UOC church as legitimate

On November 27, 2024, a court hearing was held in Poltava in the case of invalidating the decision of the meeting of the territorial community of the village of Shishaki to change the confessional affiliation of the local religious community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in favor of the OCU. The court recognized the demands of the rector of the UOC community as groundless and refused to satisfy them. This is reported by Suspilne.Poltava.

It is reported that Archpriest Bohdan Bryanchyk, rector of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Shyshaky, Poltava region, filed a lawsuit demanding to recognize as invalid the decision of the local community meeting to change the confessional affiliation of the parish of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary of the UOC in favor of the OCU. The consequence of this decision of the local community was the illegal seizure of the said religious building. However, on November 27, 2024, the court dismissed the priest’s claim, thus upholding the decision of the territorial community of the village of Shishaki.

As reported, on November 26, 2024, the Supreme Court of Ukraine issued a decision dismissing the claim of the Chernihiv Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church regarding the right to use the XI century Transfiguration Cathedral, which the state had previously expropriated from the Church.