“Rewarded with an advance?": OCU head honors mayor of Bohuslav, where attempts to seize UOC cathedral in 2022

On June 3, 2025, the head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko, received the mayor of Bohuslav (Kyiv region), Vitaliy Khomenko, at his residence. Dumenko awarded the mayor with an order and discussed with him “the formation of the OCU in the city”. This was reported by the press service of the OCU.

It is reported that during the meeting, the head of the OCU and the mayor of Bohuslav “discussed the situation in the Kyiv region, the formation of OCU communities in the region and the progress of the restoration of the main church of St. Nicholas Monastery in Bohuslav.” In addition, Dumenko awarded Vitaliy Khomenko with the Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

It is worth noting that on July 17, 2022, representatives of the OCU and local authorities made an unsuccessful attempt to seize the local Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Bila Tserkva Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Bohuslav. At the time, the raiders wanted to use a scheme according to which the territorial community would vote “for the transfer” of the local religious organization of the UOC to the OCU, which would allow them to seize the church.

However, their plans did not come true. The UOC believers defended their position. However, the risk of a second attempt to seize the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the UOC in Bohuslav remains real, as the church is an architectural monument, and given the adoption of anti-church law No. 3894, this circumstance may well put the shrine under raider attack by the OCU.