Media: UOC dean in Bukovyna hospitalized after SBU searches

Archpriest Vasyl Kovalchuk. Photo: Dozor

On March 6, 2025, officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted searches at the home of Archpriest Vasyl Kovalchuk, the dean of Storozhynets District of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), Dozor_kozak1 reported.

Following the searches, the priest was hospitalized in a pre-infarction state. According to journalists, the reason for the searches was the fact that one of Fr. Vasyl’s sons has been living in Russia for the past 18 years. Dozor claims that law enforcement officers acted on a denunciation from Roman Hryshchuk, a controversial cleric of the OCU, who has been systematically "transferring" UOC churches in Bukovyna to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

It was also reported that on March 6, Archpriest Vasyl Kovalchuk was supposed to meet with Romania’s State Secretary for Religious Affairs, Ciprian Olinici, to discuss the church seizures in Bukovina.

As previously reported by the UOJ, in recent months, several violent seizures of UOC churches by activists linked to the OCU have been recorded in Bukovina. UOC believers have repeatedly appealed to law enforcement authorities to stop the illegal actions, but the situation remains tense.

The press service of the Chernivtsi-Bukovina Eparchy of the UOC has not yet commented on the situation. The UOJ is monitoring developments and will update readers as new information becomes available.

It will be reminded that in Storozhynets, hundreds of UOC believers recently held a procession to the city council.

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