Supporters of the OCU seize UOC church in Zhytomyr region after mobilization of its rector

Supporters of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine have seized a church belonging to the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Novi Voroby in Zhytomyr region.

This was reported by the Union of Orthodox Journalists.

On May 30, representatives of the OCU sealed the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos and blocked parishioners from accessing it. According to the Union of Orthodox Journalists, “the seized church’s captors announced the holding of a fictitious parish assembly with the aim of re-registering it under the OCU.”

The seizure of the church occurred shortly after the mobilization of its rector, Hieromonk Iliya.

According to the Union of Orthodox Journalists, Ukrainian authorities in recent years have been actively pursuing a course of pushing out the UOC, including encouraging the transfer of its religious communities to the jurisdiction of the OCU, which was created in 2018 from two schismatic religious structures. Local authorities are stripping the UOC of its right to lease land under its churches, while OCU supporters, with their encouragement, are forcibly seizing churches of the canonical church and attacking priests. Law enforcement agencies are bringing charges of treason and other crimes against UOC clergy, and sanctions are also being imposed against them.