Court orders UOC to transfer Holy Spirit Cathedral in Chernivtsi to OCU control

On January 21, 2026, the Economic Court of the Chernivtsi Region issued a decision according to which the Administration of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) is obliged to vacate and transfer the Holy Spirit Cathedral, as well as a hotel and a boiler room located at 85 Holovna Street, Chernivtsi, to the OCU. The court decision is subject to execution with the signing of an act of acceptance and transfer of property.

According to the Register of Court Decisions, the lawsuit was filed by the OCU community “Religious community of the parish of the Cathedral in honor of the Descent of the Holy Spirit of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Diocese of the OCU,” which the UOC calls fictitious. The plaintiff argued that the UOC occupies and uses these buildings without legal grounds, creating obstacles to the “rightful owner”. In support of its claims, the OCU submitted extracts from the State Register of Property Rights to Real Estate dated September 23, 2025, confirming the ownership of the OCU community to the facilities.

The UOC, in turn, challenged the legality of the re-registration of ownership, pointing to obvious fraud: changes to the State Register were made before the official registration of the plaintiff as a legal entity of the OCU. Representatives of the UOC also announced the filing of a criminal complaint on the fact of abuse of power in making changes to the register. The court rejected the UOC’s motions to suspend the proceedings related to the consideration of the administrative case on invalidation of the state registration and the criminal proceedings.

The court justified its decision by the fact that on February 16, 2025, a “general meeting of the religious community” was held, at which it was decided to change the canonical affiliation from the UOC to the OCU and change the name of the organization. The new community charter was registered by order of the head of the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration on February 20, 2025. The court rejected the UOC’s arguments about the illegality of the registration actions, noting that the issue of the legality of the actions of the state registrar is not the subject of this case, and the changes made to the register are valid and have not been canceled in accordance with the procedure established by law. The date of registration of ownership of real estate, according to the court, has no legal significance, since the “ownership” of the OCU is confirmed by valid extracts from the State Register.

In addition, UAH 4844.80 of the paid court fee was recovered from the UOC in favor of the plaintiff. The decision can be appealed to the Western Commercial Court of Appeal within 20 days. The full text of the decision was drawn up and signed on January 26, 2026 by Judge Nikolai Gurin.

As reported, on June 17, 2025, an attempt was made in Chernivtsi to forcibly seize the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by raiders affiliated with the OCU. According to believers and representatives of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Diocese, about 50 people wearing balaclavas and sportswear blocked all entrances to the church. Eyewitnesses reported that the attackers used force against the believers and also used tear gas. One of the videos from the scene shows the bloody hand of one of the victims.