Chornomorets on the Events in Chernivtsi: "Icons Were Flying, It Was Absolute Barbarism"

The attempted violent seizure of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church cathedral in Chernivtsi by representatives of the OCU has sparked outrage even among the supporters of that structure. Publicist and religious scholar Yuriy Chornomorets, a known supporter of the OCU, described the incident as shameful and damaging to Ukraine’s international image. This was reported by the channel “First Cossack.”

His comments focus mainly on criticizing the actions of the OCU. He pointed out the absurdity of a vote allegedly involving two thousand people, formally registered as parishioners of three different communities.

He was especially outraged by the discrepancy between the words and actions of the OCU’s regional representative, Feognost Bodoryak, who had promised to enter the church “with the first Ukrainian prayer.” Instead, Chornomorets said, “no prayer came,” and “some people in black appeared, whom Bishop Feognost claimed not to know.”

«Icons were flying. It was absolute barbarism,» said Chornomorets, emphasizing that women, men, and clergy were beaten—and that there are many videos from the scene available online.

According to the publicist, the situation was expected to follow a well-rehearsed pattern: the police arrive, seal off the church, and later the court transfers it to the new structure. But this time, the active resistance of UOC believers disrupted the plan.

Chornomorets pointed out the lack of actual OCU parishioners among the attackers: “Again, if some faithful of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine claim this church as theirs and say they’ve attended it for years… then show these believers. Where are the hundreds or thousands? There were almost none—just a few people who drowned in a sea of UOC faithful.”

He also reminded that unlike the OCU and the former UOC-KP, the UOC does not practice violent seizures of churches, but actively defends its sacred sites.

«UOC believers — there aren’t that many. Statistics show they are a minority, but an active one that understands: if they want to preserve their churches, they must stand up for them. So just taking them away is simply impossible.»

He also sharply criticized the OCU leadership for remaining silent about the violence and offering no apology. “No evangelical position, no work on mistakes,” Chornomorets said. According to him, Epiphaniy and Feognost only offer legalistic justifications: “It’s legally our church, now we’ll fight in court.”

«This is utter disgrace. And as a result, it leads to Ukraine’s discredit on the international stage—at a time when we need support from the West,» Chornomorets concluded.

It should be recalled that Yuriy Chornomorets, a pro-OCU commentator, religious scholar, and member of the «Sophia Brotherhood,» has stated that Orthodox clergy who are not canonically connected to OCU leader Epiphaniy Dumenko have no right to operate in Ukraine. He also called on the head of the OCU to consider anathematizing all bishops and clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and demanding their expulsion from the country.