Premises of UOC Sunday School Seized with Church in 2023 Now Up for Rent in Vyshhorod

In the city of Vyshhorod, Kyiv region, a building that once housed a Sunday school built by the religious community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church at the Sts. Borys and Hlib Church has been listed for commercial rent. This was reported on May 24, 2025, by Archbishop Iona of Obukhiv, vicar of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC, on his Facebook page, citing a post on the OLX classified ads platform.

It should be recalled that the church itself was seized by representatives of the OCU on September 6, 2023. Along with the church, the Sunday school premises were also taken over.

According to Archbishop Iona, the rental listing appeared on OLX on May 23, 2025. The title reads: “For Rent: 217 m² in Vyshhorod — Property with a View of the Kyiv Sea.” The description states that the space is suitable for an educational, artistic or cultural center, an art studio, gallery, rehabilitation center, hostel, or any other type of business. The two-story, 217 sq. m facility is offered for rent at 30,000 UAH per month plus utility costs. The listing was posted by the real estate agency “Stargorod.”

Archbishop Iona emphasized that the church was initially transferred to the UOC community in a semi-ruined state. Through the efforts of the faithful, it was restored, and a Sunday school was built next to it, where children received religious education. The archbishop also shared before-and-after photos of the church in his post.

It is also worth noting that Ukraine’s Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications, Mykola Tochytskyi, recently explained the dismissal of the director general of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve, Maksym Ostapenko. According to Tochytskyi, Ostapenko “did not fight strongly enough against the Moscow spirit in the Lavra.”