"Hunting for the UOC": In Volyn, media track down meeting places of UOC parishes from which OCU supporters took away temples

Volyn regional media monitor and publish information about the meeting places of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church communities whose churches were seized by OCU supporters. The publication “Bug”, which has been repeatedly noticed in inciting hatred against the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the UOC, published data on the temporary premises rented by the religious community of the village of Bilychi, Volyn region. Believers are forced to pray in adapted premises because in 2020, the St. Michael’s Church, which belonged to them, was seized by supporters of the OCU. The publication was posted on the Bug website.

“The premises of the communal property in which the Moscow church has now been made are rented by Viktor Melnyk. However, Pavlo Melnyk rules there. They are brothers and both are priests of the UOC-MP. They are also both teachers at the Novovolynsk Educational and Research Institute of Economics and Management of the Ternopil National Economic University, where Viktor Sapozhnikov, PhD, former mayor of Novovolynsk, also teaches classes. The municipal premises in question are located in Blahodatne at 8 Hrushevskoho Street,” – the publication says.

In addition, the media accused the rector of the community, Archpriest Pavel Melnik, of allegedly publishing propaganda materials on his Facebook page. These publications include statements by international human rights activist Robert Amsterdam and the head of the youth wing of the US Republican Party in defense of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

“Interestingly, the page maintained by Pavlo Melnyk is still for some reason called ‘St. Michael’s Church of the UOC of Bilychi, Blagodatne village’. There are many posts here that condemn the transition to a new church calendar – the New Julian calendar, according to which most church dates are celebrated 13 days earlier. Many of the materials posted here report on the so-called persecution and harassment of the parishioners of the Moscow Patriarchate and call for an end to this, because, they say, “retribution is coming,” – the author of the publication added.

Earlier, we reported that the Lviv Regional Administration, with the support of the UGCC, the OCU, radical activists and local media, continues to harass the three remaining religious communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the region. The Lviv Regional State Administration is looking for places where UOC believers gather, violating the right to private property and privacy of Ukrainian citizens. This time, Suspilne.Lviv published the personal data and addresses of residents of the Lviv region, whom the media suspect of organizing secret services in private homes.