OCU Supporters Seize UOC Church in Stari Bezradichi

On April 8, 2025, in the village of Stari Bezradichi, Kyiv region, supporters of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) seized the Holy Assumption Church. Representatives of OCU, along with the secretary of the Pereyaslav-Visnevskiy Diocese of OCU, Vicentiy Kozak, entered the church. This was reported by local activists of the organization on Facebook.

A community cleanup is planned for the church grounds on April 10, and the first “service” is set for April 13.

According to published information, on June 8, 2024, the residents of Stari Bezradichi voted to join the OCU, and on July 31, 2024, the Holy Assumption Parish was legally transferred to Dumenko’s organization. It is not stated whether the religious community of the UOC participated in this vote.

Earlier, it was reported that on April 1, 2025, in the village of Dubovtsi in Bukovina, the Assumption Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was violently seized. The raid involved militants of the DUK “Right Sector”, activists of the “Right Youth”, and representatives of the “Trizub” organization named after S. Bandera.