The City Authorities of Cherkasy Closed the Recently Seized St. Andrew's UOC Church to Visitors

In Cherkasy, local authorities temporarily closed the St. Andrew’s Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which was recently raided and seized by representatives of the OCU with the assistance of officials. This was reported by the hierarch of the OCU, Ioan, in a comment to local media.

According to him, the Cherkasy City Council canceled the decision to allocate land to the UOC and «asked» the community to leave the church.

The representative of the OCU stated that the church was temporarily closed allegedly to prevent conflicts and «prayer standing» by UOC believers who do not agree with the lawlessness. He also noted that the OCU community would not enter the church until the «dangerous period» is over, referring to May 9, when «Moscow churches will celebrate the victory of the USSR,» while «the civilized world will commemorate the victory over Nazism in World War II.»

Let us remind that the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of Cherkasy and Kaniv, Theodosiy, spoke about the details of the events leading up to the seizure of St. Andrew’s Church of the UOC in Cherkasy. The archbishop noted that the mayor of Cherkasy, Anatoly Bondarenko, during a conversation with the metropolitan, admitted that the city authorities had no documents for St. Andrew’s Church and the land beneath it. However, the mayor refused to address the issue in court.