Raiding in Uspenka: OCU intends to enter the temple

Holy Assumption church in Uspenka village. Photo: Natalia Sheklunova

Believers in the village of Uspenka, Onufriyevo District, Kirovograd Region, told the UOJ that on Friday, November 6 at 11am, supporters of the OCU intend to "go" to the church of the Holy Dormition community of the Alexandria Diocese of the UOC.

The parishioners are alarmed by this information, as there have already been several attempts to seize the temple. The rector and members of the church community are going to pray in front of the church for the preservation of peace in the village.

On December 22, 2019, with the support of the "Right Sector", village residents (68 people) gathered in the Uspenkia village club and called their gathering as the "Parish meeting of the religious community". According to the UOJ, only 5 people out of all those present were members of the religious community. There was also a certain “priest” of the OCU Mikhail from the Kyiv region. The meeting participants voted for passing to the OCU.

On the same day, a meeting of a real religious Holy Dormition community (24 people) took place in the church, whose members unanimously voted for loyalty to the UOC, headed by His Beatitude Onuphry.

The next day there was an attempt to seize the temple, which the believers were able to suppress. Archbishop Bogolep, the ruling bishop of the Diocese of Alexandria, personally came to support the parishioners and called on the authorities to protect the community from the tyranny of the raiders.

However, in August 2020, it became known that the Kirovograd Regional State Administration had secretly re-registered the UOC community in favor of the OCU on July 23. Moreover, the rector, Archpriest John Onisko, and the members of the parish learned about this fact by chance. The community filed an application with the police to resolve the issue in a legal field.

On October 7, members of the OCU tried to take possession of the temple in Uspenka, but the believers managed to defend the shrine.

The UOJ is monitoring the situation.

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