“No need to pity them”: In the Zhytomyr region, a hierarch of the OCU personally participated in the seizure of a UOC church

On September 13, 2025, representatives of the OCU seized the Holy Protection Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Potievka, Zhytomyr region. The seizure was supervised by OCU hierarch Vladimir Shlapak, who personally broke down the church fence to gain access to the temple grounds. According to eyewitnesses, the OCU raiders did not have any documents confirming their right to the religious building. This was reported on the Facebook page of the Potievka territorial community.

“First, a meeting was held in the center of the village, most of the participants of which, according to local residents, are not residents of Potievka, let alone parishioners of the local church. The real parishioners, who regularly attend services, did not participate in the meeting and stood peacefully near the church to prevent bloodshed. The meeting was organized by Maria Surzyk, a citizen who does not live in the village, but whose relatives live here. She publicly stated that the church would not be seized. However, after the vote, citizen Vasyl Shlapak (“archbishop” of the OCU) suggested going to the church. It was he who led the people. Approaching the closed gates of the church, he ordered the boards on the fence to be broken (this can be seen in the video). After several men broke the boards, Vasyl Shlapak crawled through the hole in the fence, followed by the people he had brought with him,” – eyewitnesses to the events said.

After the OCU supporters managed to enter the territory of the Holy Protection Church of the UOC, they immediately proceeded to the closed doors and began to break the locks. It is reported that it was Shlapak himself who provoked the burglars to action, convincing them that they would go unpunished.

“At the church door, it was Vasily Shlapak who ordered them to find tools and break the locks. Despite their desire to enter the church, people did not dare to do so by such violent means. However, Shlapak constantly incited them, saying, ‘What are you afraid of? Take the crowbar and break it down. His words were, ‘There is no need to pity them. As a result of these actions, the locks on the temple building were broken and people entered the temple. These actions were not stopped by the fact that the parishioners of the temple, among whom were elderly people, young mothers with children, and active military personnel who had come on vacation, called on them not to “break into this monument of architecture and spirituality” in this way. The “archbishop” of the OCU, Vasily Shalapak, is acting in a similar manner in other settlements in the region. When Vasily Shalapak ‘victoriously’ left the churchyard, the residents of the Potievsk community asked him: “We believed you when you said you would not seize the church! Is this legal?” Shalapak replied: “Yes, this is legal!” To which the people replied: “Your methods are to break and steal!” – added eyewitnesses.

We recall that on September 2, 2025, the Kitsman District Court of the Chernivtsi Region handed down a verdict against Vasily Garbuz, a parishioner of the St. Nicholas Church of the UOC in the village of Verkhni Stanovtsi, who defended the religious building during an attempted raid by representatives of the OCU. The defendant was accused of allegedly causing bodily harm to one of the raiders.