Supporters of the OCU in the village of Rakov Les dropped their lawsuit to evict a UOC priest from his housing

Adherents of the OCU in the village of Rakov Les in Volyn refused the lawsuit concerning the eviction of the cleric of the Volyn diocese of the UOC, Archpriest Rostislav Sizhuk, together with his minor children from the house where his family lives. This is reported by the Information and Education Department of the UOC with reference to the press service of the Volyn diocese.

On April 8, 2025, the Kamyan-Kashirsky District Court of Volyn region issued a decision to close the case of deregistration and eviction of the priest, and the decision entered into legal force immediately after the proclamation.

The press service of the diocese recalled that in August 2023 Kamyan-Kashirsky district court ordered to evict the priest together with his children. This decision was confirmed by the Volyn appellate court. However, in July 2024, the Supreme Court of Ukraine overturned the decision of the lower instances and referred the case for a new trial.

During the new hearing, the OCU community in the village of Rakov Les changed the subject of the lawsuit and filed an application to drop the lawsuit.

Earlier it was reported that the deputy temporary control commission for the implementation of the Volyn regional council’s decisions to ban the activities of the Moscow Patriarchate on the territory of the region held a regular meeting at which it considered ways to evict the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the occupied religious buildings. We are talking about the complex of buildings of the Holy Assumption Cathedral of the Vladimir-Volyn diocese of the UOC and the church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the town of Kamen-Kashirsky. The deputies of the regional state administration, who participated in the meeting, came to the conclusion that since the UOC does not want to leave the mentioned premises on its own, force will have to be used against the representatives of the Church.