In Cherkasy, the OCU and security forces seized another UOC church

On May 6, 2025, another Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) parish in Cherkasy was forcibly seized. This time, the target was the Church of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called.

According to parishioners, the city mayor, Anatoliy Bondarenko—who had previously been involved in the conflict over the seizure of the UOC’s St. Michael’s Cathedral—arrived at the scene. In the presence of police officers, OCU cleric Nazariy Zasansky, known for similar actions, broke the church doors with a knife.

Most of the faithful were not allowed inside by the police. Meanwhile, inside the church building, Zasansky and representatives of the local authorities were conducting what they called an “inventory” of the Cherkasy Diocese’s property.

It should also be noted that on May 4, 2025, in the village of Banyliv-Pidhirnyi (Chernivtsi region), “chaplains” and OCU supporters—backed by local officials—held “territorial meetings” where they unilaterally “transferred” two local UOC churches, dedicated to the Ascension of the Lord and the Holy Spirit, into the OCU.