Court rules on expropriation of the Cathedral of Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the UOC

On March 12, 2025, the Rivne Court of Appeal rejected the appeal of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and confirmed the decision of the first instance to expropriate the complex of premises of the Holy Dormition Cathedral of Volodymyr-Volynskyi, which also houses the diocesan administration and theological school. This was reported by MP and lobbyist of the OCU Ihor Huz on his Facebook page.

“Today the court made a final decision to evict the Moscow Patriarchate from the Holy Dormition Cathedral in Volodymyr! A few hours ago, the North-Western Economic Court of Appeal (Rivne) dismissed the appeal of the Moscow Patriarchate against the decision of the Economic Court of Volyn Region, which on November 12, 2024, ordered the UOC-MP to return the monument of national importance – the Assumption Cathedral in Volodymyr – to state ownership. The ruling of the Economic Court of Appeal comes into force from the moment it is issued, i.e. from today. This means that the state must promptly execute the court’s decision and permanently evict the Moscow priests from the Holy Dormition Cathedral in Volodymyr as soon as possible!”, – the MP wrote.

Guz added that the next in line will be the Holy Dormition Zymnensky Stavropegial Monastery of the UOC and the Dormition Monastery of the UOC in the village of Nyzkynychi, Volyn region.

“This is an intermediate but very important victory. Ahead are the Zymnensky and Nyzkynychi monasteries, which, unfortunately, still remain centers of the “Russian world” in the Volodymyr region,” – he added.

We recently reported that the Volyn Regional Administration continues to exert pressure on religious communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with a view to further expropriation of their property. We are talking about the complex of premises of the Holy Dormition Cathedral in Volodymyr-Volynskyi, which also houses the diocesan administration and theological school, and the UOC Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kamen-Kashyrskyi.