Former MP accused the authorities and police of sabotaging the eviction of the UOC from historic churches

Former MP Mykola Tomenko sharply criticized local authorities and law-enforcement agencies, accusing them of sabotaging the execution of court rulings on the eviction of representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from landmark historical churches in Pereyaslav and Kanev. According to him, the inaction of officials and police not only delays the process for a year and a half, but also leads to acts of vandalism against Ukrainian cultural heritage.

The life.znaj.ua website reported that the main conflict unfolded around the St. Michael’s Church in Pereyaslav. Despite the Supreme Court’s final ruling of April 10, 2024, which obliges the UOC to vacate the premises, it has not yet been implemented. Mykola Tomenko claims that the local executive service is «afraid of grandmothers — fans of Kirill-Putin», and the police have been «waiting for an additional instruction from Kiev» for a year and a half.

According to the politician, the situation in Kanev is no less indicative. There, representatives of the UOC were forced to leave the famous Dormition Cathedral built in 1144, but, according to Tomenko, their departure was «accompanied by vandalism.» They allegedly took clockwork equipment with them, cut the tongues off church bells and left behind murals that the politician characterized as depicting «hell with Ukrainian churchmen.» The local police, he noted, «did not record a single fact of crime.»

Summarizing, Mykola Tomenko called such an attitude of the authorities and law enforcers «slackness», which ignores the laws of Ukraine and plays along with the enemy. The absurdity of the situation, according to him, is emphasized by the fact that the Pereyaslav police, unable to implement the decision of the Supreme Court, opened a case against the National Reserve for the construction of a toilet for visitors in the historic part of the city.

We will remind, earlier the people’s Deputy of Ukraine Igor Guz called on the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to take immediate measures to terminate 50-year lease agreements for the Zimnensky and Nizkinich monasteries in Volyn, concluded with the monastic communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The MP also demanded an inspection of the former head of the Volyn regional state administration, Yuriy Pohulyayko, under whom these agreements were signed.