With a sledgehammer and a grinder: OCU clerics seize a UOC church in Shpola

"Priests" of the OCU in Shpola. Photo: UOJ

On 2 September 2023, OCU representatives raided the St. Nicholas Church in the town of Shpola in the Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC.

A UOC priest said that using hammers, sledgehammers and angle grinders, the unknown raiders broke the entrance gate and the service entrance to the altar.

"They kicked out of the refectory the man who lived there, kicked everyone out into the street, damaged church property, drove in with a car and won't let anyone in," the priest said.

He also said that on 2 September the liturgy was to be served in the church, but "unknown" persons calling themselves OCU "priests" did not allow it.

According to the UOC priest, representatives of Dumenko's structure forged documents on the ownership of the temple.

The supporters of Dumenko who seized the church also prevented the rector of the Shpola district, the rector and cleric of the St. Nicholas Church, Volodymyr Skrypnychuk, and Valeriy Haluzynsky from taking their personal belongings and priestly vestments.

As reported, OCU adherents seized a UOC temple in Vyshhorod, using a hammer and chisel.

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