Pereyaslav city council demands from the Ministry of Justice and the National Police to ensure the eviction of the UOC from St. Michael's Church

The Pereyaslav city council appealed to the Ministry of Justice and the National Police of Ukraine to ensure the forced eviction of the religious community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) from the St. Michael’s Church complex. Despite the enforceable court ruling, the community continues to occupy the nationally significant architectural monument, prompting local authorities to escalate the issue to the central level.

The conflict around St. Michael’s Church, which is state property and is on the balance of the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve “Pereyaslav”, has lasted for several years. According to Proslav.info, on July 20, 2023 the Economic Court of Kyiv region obliged the religious community of the UOC to vacate the premises. This decision was upheld by the ruling of the Northern Economic Court of Appeal on November 23, 2023 and is binding for immediate execution. However, according to the deputies, the local bodies of the state executive service and police did not take sufficient measures to implement it.

At the session on November 20, Pereyaslavl City Council unanimously decided to appeal to the central authorities. City Mayor Vyacheslav Saulko and acting Director General of the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve “Pereyaslav” Maryna Navalna emphasized that the inaction of law enforcement and executive bodies “undermines the authority of the judiciary and the state,” especially in the conditions of a full-scale war. The authorities also expressed concern that prolonging the situation could provoke public unrest, as the territorial community, where all “other churches voluntarily transferred to the OCU,” is outraged by the situation.

In its appeal, the city council asks the Ministry of Justice to check the activities of the local department of the state executive service and oblige it to immediately evict the illegal user. The national police are urged to consider opening criminal proceedings under Article 382 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (willful failure to execute a court decision) and take measures to enforce it. The city authorities emphasize that the return of the church to the reserve is of key importance for the preservation of the national cultural heritage and the continuation of educational work.

We shall remind you that earlier we reported that the regional media of the city of Pereyaslav (Kyiv region) demanded to prohibit the communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, from which supporters of the OCU seized the temples, to perform Divine services in adapted premises. Opponents of the UOC in Pereyaslav believe that in this way the communities of the canonical Church violate sanitary and fire safety norms, and the law “On Freedom of Conscience” allegedly prohibits religious events in unsuitable premises.