Representatives of the OCU made their way into the UOC church in the Chernobyl exclusion zone

On September 7, 2025, representatives of the OCU made their way to the Archangel Michael Church of the UOC in the village of Velyki Klishchi (a practically abandoned village, ed.) in the Zhytomyr region, located in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Representatives of the OCU conducted religious services in the church, despite the fact that the altar area of the religious building was closed. This was reported by Suspilne.Zhytomyr.

«The fact is that the altar area was closed, and the clergyman of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine cannot enter it. The keys to the locks are held by a monk, Ivan, of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. We tried to negotiate with him, but he said that he would not talk to schismatics and would not pray,» — said Volodymyr Chmud, a representative of the Zhytomyr-Polissya Diocese of the OCU.

According to the OCU representative, they did not publicize the event “to avoid provocations.” However, he hopes that in the future they will also be able to visit the Archangel Michael Church in the village of Velyki Klishchi.

“We did not publicize this service so as not to provoke any incidents. And in the future, I hope that they will finally meet us halfway and we, the OCU, will be able to hold services with people,” Chmud added.

It should be noted that the Archangel Michael Church of the UOC in the village of Velyki Klishchi, Zhytomyr region, is a unique structure, as it is located in the exclusion zone formed as a result of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The church is not used on a regular basis, given that the village of Velyki Klishchi is virtually abandoned, and its few residents, who refused to leave the village during the evacuation, attend services only during major church holidays.

However, the Zhytomyr Diocese of the UOC has been taking care of the church all this time, organizing its preservation at its own expense. In this regard, the intrusion of representatives of the OCU into the Archangel Michael Church of the UOC in the village of Velyki Klishchi, described in the above report, seems at least inappropriate.