In Bukovina, OCU Activists Seized UOC Church, Forcing Worshippers Out During Service

On Bright Monday, April 21, 2025, the Archangel Michael Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Stavchany, Chernivtsi region, was seized by OCU activists with the support of a cleric from another village. This was reported by sources of the UOJ within the local community.

According to the believers, despite the will of the religious community, the church was re-registered in favor of the OCU by the state authorities, bypassing the existing legislation. This gave the OCU representatives grounds to forcibly enter the church right during the service. At that moment, the church was mainly attended by elderly women, who were unable to resist—they were simply pushed out onto the street.

The believers report that about two dozen men, accompanied by the OCU cleric, entered the holy site with a clear intention to take it over, despite the service still being underway. The entire process was accompanied by rough treatment of the worshippers.

Additionally, two days after the incident, the police stopped the rector of the Archangel Michael Church, Priest Vyacheslav Gogol, and ordered him to appear at the territorial recruitment center.

Earlier, Belarusian human rights activist and religious scholar Natalia Vasilevich expressed concern about the seizure of Ukrainian Orthodox Church churches in Bukovina, noting that such actions could cause serious harm to Ukraine’s national security.