OCU activist stages provocation during UOC service in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi

OCU activist disrupts service near the UOC Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi. Photo: Dozor

On April 12, 2025, Lazarus Saturday, Orthodox Christians prayed near the Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands of the Cherkasy Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi, a church that had previously been seized by OCU raiders. According to the Dozor Telegram channel, one activist attempted to disrupt the service, provoking the faithful.

UOC parishioners have been holding outdoor services in front of their church every Saturday for nearly a year. Local OCU activists regularly attempt to interfere with their worship. The faithful are often forced to pray while enduring a barrage of insults and curses.

During the Lazarus Saturday service, one activist stood near the makeshift altar and lit a cigarette. He then began extinguishing the candles lit by the worshippers—continuing to do so even after they had been relit.

UOC believers were forced to call the police, and only after that were they able to finish the service in peace.

As the UOJ previously reported, the persecuted community in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi recently held the Standing of the Virgin Mary service near their church.

Read also

OCU explains why beggars are driven away from St. Michael’s Cathedral

A cleric of Dumenko’s structure admitted that beggars are not tolerated at the OCU’s main monastery because of their “high incomes” and the desire not to damage the site’s image before foreign tourists.

UOC Chancellor: Venerable Anthony founded a monastery, not a reserve

Metropolitan Anthony said that the attempt to turn the Lavra into a state preserve is, in essence, an attempt to lock living Orthodoxy behind a door.

Dumenko discusses countering hostile influence in spiritual life with PO head

The heads of the OCU and the Presidential Office touched on state-church relations and “spiritual security” in wartime.

Albanian Primate speaks about ways to resolve OCU problem

Archbishop John is convinced: disagreements between Moscow and Constantinople can only be overcome through love and dialogue, but not through choosing "sides".

National Memory Institute and SBU open exhibition on UGCC liquidation

An exhibition on the repression of the Uniates has opened in the capital, while state officials search for historical parallels with the present day.

OCU "priest" “allows” parishioners to use priest’s cassock for sex games

Ruslan Usmedinsky said that using a priest’s cassock as a prop for role-playing games can strengthen relationships between couples.