Cherkasy prosecutor's office returned to the state one more temple, previously taken away from the UOC in favor of the OCU

The Uman District Prosecutor’s Office has secured the return of the unique Cossack Trinity Church of the 18th century, located in the village of Pugachevka, Uman District, Cherkasy Region, to state ownership. This wooden three-domed building of 1761, which has the status of an architectural monument of national importance, was under the threat of destruction due to the inaction of the Cherkassy regional state administration in the registration of property rights. In addition, several years earlier the temple was taken away from the local religious community of the UOC in favor of the OCU. About it reports Cherkassy regional Prosecutor’s office.

The temple-monument, built in 1761, is a wooden three-domed and three-framed building, unique for Cherkassy region and is important for the Ukrainian cultural heritage. The Prosecutor’s Office found that the Cherkassy Regional State Administration did not take measures to formalize the state ownership of the church and did not register it as state property. As a result, the shrine was actually deprived of proper legal protection and was under the threat of destruction or distortion.

In order to preserve the Cossack Trinity Church, the Uman District Prosecutor’s Office filed a lawsuit with the Cherkassy District Administrative Court. It demanded to recognize the inaction of the administration as unlawful and oblige it to formalize the right of state ownership of the church, as well as to initiate before the State Property Fund of Ukraine the issue of entering the object into the Unified Register of objects of state ownership.

On September 8, 2025 Cherkassy District Administrative Court agreed with the arguments of the prosecutor and ruled to satisfy the claim. This decision is important for the preservation of the unique architectural heritage of the Middle Dnieper region and confirms the principled position of the prosecutor’s office in defending the interests of the state in the field of cultural heritage protection.

It is also worth noting that until 2020 the mentioned Trinity church was used by the local community of the Uman diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. As a result of criminal manipulations and implementation of raider schemes, the community was re-registered in favor of the OCU, and the temple was transferred to new users.

We will remind, earlier we reported that Cherkasy regional prosecutor’s office returned to the state ownership of three temples that previously belonged to religious communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. We are talking about the temples-monuments of architecture, which were transferred to the use of the OCU communities in 2024 as a result of raider schemes to seize the property of the UOC.