Ministry of Defense tries to sue UOC church on territory of military hospital in Dnipro

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is planning to sue the premises of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church church in honor of St. Ilya Muromets, which is located on the territory of a military hospital in Dnipro. Several years ago, the hospital management restricted the religious community’s access to the church. Now they are planning to take the church away completely and convert it for their own needs. This is reported by Dnipro Operativnyi.

It is reported that the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, through the Specialized Defense Prosecutor’s Office of the Eastern Region, filed a lawsuit against the Religious Community of St. Ilya Muromets of the Pechersk Caves of the Dnipro Diocese of the UOC, demanding the return of the church premises, which used to be a workshop. The disputed property is located on the territory of a military hospital at 63 Starokozatska Street in Dnipro. According to the court registry, the Ministry of Defense demands to cancel the state registration of the religious community’s ownership of this building and return it to state ownership.

“This temple is open. Only those who have access to the territory have access to it — that is, patients and staff can enter it. The church was left for the community that was registered. Everything else was returned to state ownership. During the court proceedings, the church was singled out in a separate register, and at that time the state did not make any claims against the religious community,” — said Serhiy Bachynsky, deputy commander for psychological support of the staff.

The OCU was also involved in this situation. Dmitry Povorotny, who introduced himself as a “chaplain” of the OCU, said that the church should be taken away from the UOC because the Church “did not break ties with the Moscow Patriarchate.”

“Their documents do not directly state that it is the Moscow Patriarchate, but an examination conducted two years ago at the request of the State Ethnic Policy Service proved that they are guided by the letter of Patriarch Alexy, which confirms their connection with the Moscow Patriarchate,” — explains ‘chaplain’ Povorotny.

Earlier, we reported that the hospital church of St. Xenia of St. Petersburg at Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 3, which was taken away from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 2022, was converted into a cafe. The church had been fully operational at the hospital for 22 years, providing an opportunity for staff and patients to participate in the Church’s services and sacraments.