A church built by persecuted UOC community burned down in Volyn

Burnt church in Stari Koshary. Photo: Volodymyr-Volyn Eparchy

The Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) reported that a newly constructed church in the village of Stari Koshary in the Kovel district was set on fire. The incident occurred on the morning of September 26. The church, which is being built in honor of the Protection of the Holy Theotokos, belongs to the UOC religious community.

It is reported that this church is being constructed to replace the previous one, dedicated to the Apostle John the Theologian, which was taken over by supporters of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in 2019 on Holy Wednesday. The arson was reported by the community’s priest, Archpriest Andriy Khomych.

According to him, the suspect in the arson had been threatening the priest and members of the UOC community for a long time. The community had previously reported these threats to the police and provided appropriate testimonies.

As reported by the Union of Orthodox Journalists (UOJ), on September 4, 2024, a church dedicated to the Protection of the Holy Theotokos burned down in the village of Zeremlia in the Baranivka district of the Zhytomyr region. The cause of the fire was arson.

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