In Bukovina, a believer of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who spoke out in defense of the church was put on trial

On September 2, 2025, the Kitsman District Court of Chernivtsi Region handed down a verdict against Vasyl Garbuz, a parishioner of the St. Nicholas Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Verkhni Stanovtsi, who defended the religious building during an attempted raid by representatives of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The defendant was accused of allegedly causing bodily harm to one of the raiders. This was reported by zaxid.net.

It is reported that the clash between supporters of the UOC and the OCU took place in April 2025 near the Church of St. Nicholas in the village of Verkhni Stanovtsi, Vyzhnytskyi District. At that time, armed OCU raiders, supported by right-wing radical groups, attempted to seize the St. Nicholas Church of the UOC, but were met with physical resistance from UOC believers.

After the failed attempt to seize the church, OCU supporter Ivan Fedoryshyn complained to the police that he had allegedly been beaten by UOC believers. A forensic medical examination established that as a result of the beating, the victim suffered minor injuries, namely bruises on his right shoulder, left shoulder joint, back, right shin, and abrasions on his back.

“During this conflict, the defendant, acting intentionally, unlawfully, out of religious intolerance and aggression, struck the victim at least 11 times with a wooden stick,” — according to the verdict of the Kitsman District Court on September 2.

The defendant pleaded guilty in court. When determining the sentence, the judge took into account that Vasyl Harbuz had no previous convictions, was not registered with a psychiatrist or narcologist, had a positive character reference from his place of residence, was married, and had two minor children to support. He was sentenced to 60 hours of community service.