A member of the Lutsk City Council demands that the Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church allow people with animals to enter during air raid alerts

During a session of the city council, Alla Zhupaniuk, a member of the Lutsk City Council from the Svoboda party, raised the issue of city shelters, which are equipped, in particular, in some churches in Lutsk. The reason for this was a recent incident that occurred in the Cathedral of the Volyn Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in honor of All Saints of the Volyn Land. At that time, during one of the shellings of the city by Russian troops, people who came to hide from the bombing with their pets were not allowed into the church. Zhupaniuk demanded that the city authorities intervene in the situation so that in the future people could hide in the aforementioned religious building, including with their animals. This was reported by VSN.

«As a deputy, I was approached by residents of Lutsk because of a cynical violation of humanity under martial law. People are not allowed into shelters, or these shelters are simply closed. I emphasize that we are talking about churches that are included in the official list of shelters. During the Mongol-Tatar invasion, Christians hid in churches even with their livestock. Those wounded during the Revolution of Dignity found refuge in St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral. Yes, people died in the temple, blood was shed — but the temple itself remained a place of safety where people sought protection,» — the deputy noted.

On July 22, 2025, religious events dedicated to the “new” day of remembrance of St. Mary Magdalene, Equal to the Apostles, took place in the city of Lutsk. In the church of the same name, built in one of the microdistricts of the regional center of the Volyn region, religious services were held on the occasion of the patronal feast. The rector of the aforementioned church is the former clergyman of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Alexander Kolb, who defected to the schism and joined the OCU. It is noteworthy that the celebrations were attended by the scandalous head of the Volyn diocese of the OCU, Mykhailo Zinkevych, the exarch of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Ukraine, Mykhailo Anishchenko, as well as numerous high-ranking representatives of the Roman Catholic Church.