The cross and the club: When the OCU used police to claim the sacred

Hryshchuk seized the сhurch in Verkhni Stanivtsi only with the police assistance. Photo: UOJ

On April 12, 2025, Lazarus Saturday, the St. Nicholas Church in the Bukovynian village of Verkhni Stanivtsi was seized by froce. Unfortunately, this case is far from unique for modern Ukraine, and for Bukovyna in particular. Since the beginning of 2025, the Chernivtsi region has been rocked by scandals related to the cynical actions of the OCU and local authorities in their attempts to “transfer” UOC churches.

But the case of Verkhni Stanivtsi drew particular attention. First, the attackers failed on their initial attempt – the community stood firm and drove the raiders out. Second, the assault was carried out under blatantly criminal conditions: it happened at night, and it was violent and bloody. And third – and most shockingly – in order to seize the church, the OCU had to rely openly on police support. Such a cynical collusion between Dumenko’s structure and the authorities in executing an outright crime has rarely been seen so clearly before.

But let us take a closer look.

How the transition of the community should legally proceed

The law “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations” (Article 8) prescribes the procedure for the transition of a religious community to another denomination: “Membership in a religious community is based on the principles of free will, as well as on the requirements of the charter (statute) of the religious community. The decision to change the subordination and make appropriate changes or additions to the charter is adopted by the general meeting of the religious community. Such general meetings of the religious community may be convened by its members.

The decision to change the subordination and to make relevant changes or additions to the charter is adopted by at least two-thirds of the number of members of the religious community required to recognize the general assembly of the religious community as authorized in accordance with the charter (statute) of the religious community.”

Let’s focus on the most important points:

• Membership in a religious community is based on the requirements of the statute. The standard Statute of the UOC stipulates that its members are those who regularly attend services, participate in sacraments (confession, communion, etc.), and are actively involved in the life of the community.
• The assembly on transition can only be convened by the members of the religious (not any other type: territorial, professional, etc.) community.
• A decision to change the affiliation must be in line with the community’s statute.

Now, with this information in mind, let’s look at how events unfolded in Verkhni Stanivtsi.

On February 3, 2025, an assembly was held for the “transition to the OCU”. Well, the meeting took place, and the community has the right to hold it. But the matter is that the community wasn’t involved in it at all. The assembly was held by completely unrelated people to the St. Nicholas parish: a dozen OCU clergy led by Roman Hryshchuk and residents brought in from other regions. Here’s what the parish priest, Ihor Pits, said:

“Today in the village of Verkhni Stanivtsi, a false, fake meeting took place – one that I, as the rector, knew nothing about, and neither did our people, the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. However, from unofficial sources, we learned that a rally was going to be held in our village, allegedly a prayer event by OCU representatives for the warriors. We responded and also attended the rally, where we listened to their prayer and prayed ourselves. But, unfortunately, the OCU representatives acted deceitfully towards the residents of Verkhni Stanivtsi. They brought in people unknown to us (although a few locals were present) and held a vote, where the minority actually supported the OCU.”

At the same time, the St. Nicholas parish of the UOC held its legal community assembly, during which it decided not to change its subordination but to remain in the UOC.

In other words, two meetings took place: one by the church community, which complied with the norms of the law "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations", and another by outsiders, which has no legal standing whatsoever.

This clearly constitutes fraud, as a decision was made and votes were cast by people who were not related to the religious community. Therefore, the community filed a complaint with the law enforcement authorities.

However, this led to nothing, because the authorities, without investigation, instantly re-registered the St. Nicholas Church as part of the OCU. Why such blatant lawlessness occurs is a mystery, but the Chernivtsi authorities consider this situation as normal. For example, the head of the Chernivtsi Regional Culture Department, Olena Bodnar, openly stated that her department only deals with assemblies that voted to join the OCU, not those that decided to remain in the UOC.

"Like a thief in the night"

The first attempt to seize the St. Nicholas Church took place on the night of April 8-9. A group of bandits broke down the doors of the UOC’s St. Nicholas Church, entered teh temple, and barricaded themselves inside.

They used force against the women who tried to stop them. One of the young girls had her face smashed in blood with a stick.

According to eyewitnesses, the gang of mercenaries was led by the "priest" of the OCU, Roman Hryshchuk. Although he hid his face under a hood, the parishioners of St. Nicholas Church recognized him.

Later, when the female parishioners notified the men of the parish, the bandits were forced to leave the church. Dropping their angle grinders, drills, and sticks, the militants left. As it turned out later, the group of "prayerful people" consisted of OCU clergy (led by Hryshchuk), as well as some students from the Lviv region. The strangest thing was that in their hastily abandoned backpacks, the police found five knives. Why would people who (according to their statements) were going to pray need cold weapons remained unclear.

However, evidence of their "devoutness" could be seen in the ransacked altar and sacristy room.

The state of the altar in Verkhni Stanivtsi after the OCU raid. Photo: UOJ

The main outcome of the attempted seizure in Verkhni Stanivtsi was that the attempt ultimately failed. The militants fled because the parishioners greatly outnumbered them.

But in fact, a crime occurred – unknown individuals with cold weapons broke into the church premises and attempted to take control of it. Moreover, they inflicted bodily harm on the parishioners. Not surprisingly, the police arrived in the village the next day.

'Concerned' investigators

In the following days, there were more police officers in Verkhni Stanivtsi than residents. There were over 60 law enforcement vehicles alone. Checkpoints were set up at the entrances and exits. Meanwhile, investigators began questioning the parishioners. They asked detailed questions about how the raid unfolded, nodding sympathetically as they listened. Special attention was paid to the men. One of them was made a witness when the investigators searched the bandits’ belongings and found blades.

The investigator told one of the parishioners that the case was high-profile, and if it were not for the wartime, the criminals would not escape responsibility. The believers were reassured, thinking that even if Hryshchuk and his accomplices were not punished now, the police would certainly protect them from any future raids.

But, as it turned out, all these actions were part of a “theatrical performance”. As the parishioners later realized, the police were simply assessing how capable the parishioners were of fighting back. They found that they were not. Therefore, the police gave the OCU followers the green light for further forceful actions.

Successful seizure

On April 12, 2025, Lazarus Saturday, the OCU raiders successfully stormed the St. Nicholas Church. This was a real military operation with a strategy, a well-thought-out plan, and assigned roles. The organizers announced a "prayer service" to be held under the church’s fence, where people from nearby villages were brought in with flags, playing the role of parishioners.

These people were gathered via social media by OCU archpriest Mykola Khymiak. He justified this by claiming it was necessary to "help the neighbors".

And the role of the stormtroopers was again played by OCU clergy with unknown guys of athletic build. On command, several people dismantled the fence sections and rushed towards the church.

Several women who tried to stop them were knocked to the ground. Shouting "Get the Moscow priest out!", the OCU forcers, led by serial raider Roman Hryshchuk, began to break the doors of the shrine.

The main "ram" was OCU clergy member Mykola Herheliuk, who had recently worked as a registrar at the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration, re-registering UOC communities into the OCU.

After the doors were broken, the police came into play in the Verkhni Stanivtsi operation. Before the assault, the police mainly observed quietly; but once the OCU militants broke into the church, they organized themselves, pushed the parishioners aside, and created a human corridor for the people brought in with flags.

One of the parishioners, recording the lawlessness, bitterly said: "And after this, they say we have some laws on freedom of religion... These are total strangers, unfamiliar people who came to the church. We have neither law nor authority. Everything was planned; they just broke the fence and entered the church. And the police demonstratively watched all of it."

The police showed no leniency toward the real parishioners. The next day, one of the AFU soldiers from the village posted a video on Facebook, showing one of the law enforcers striking his mother in the head.

Full OCU-police collaboration against the true parishioners of the community is evident. This is proved by the fact that together with the invaders, the Deputy Head of the Main Department of the National Police in the Chernivtsi region, Sviatoslav Kishlar, entered the church grounds through the dismantled fence.

Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Chernivtsi region, Sviatoslav Kishlar, during the raids in Mykhalcha and Verkhni Stanivtsi. Photo: UOJ

The raid in Verkhni Stanivtsi was not his only "operation". He expelled UOC parishioners during the raids in the villages of Mykhalcha and Zadubrivka. On April 7, Kishlar visited the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the UOC in Chernivtsi, which the "black registrars" re-registered into the OCU by the same bandit-like scheme, despite the will of thousands of parishioners. Was he just observing?

We do not know if he is specifically the curator of other raids in Bukovyna. But the fact that, under his leadership, the police in Verkhni Stanivtsi turned into an armed escort for the shameful raiding is undeniable.

Of course, Kishlar is just an executor, albeit of a high rank. He is merely part of the system, which today is targeting UOC communities. One only needs to recall the statement of the head of the regional council, Oleksiy Boyko, who in 2023 called the UOC the "Russian Church" and declared that there would be no UOC temples in the territory of Bukovyna.

What happened in Verkhni Stanivtsi is occurring today across Bukovyna and beyond. The "guilt" of the parishioners of this particular village is simply that they dared to successfully resist the militants. That is why the authorities effectively put them in their place.

For the believers, the loss of their shrine is a great sorrow, but not a tragedy. Celebrating Palm Sunday on the street the day after the raid, the rector of the St. Nicholas Church told his flock: "We are people of faith, and we know that there is no justice here on earth. True justice is in Heaven."

And that is indeed true. Our true Homeland is in Heaven. But those who, here in our earthly homeland, destroy truth – they will have to answer for it.
Otherwise, the hope for a happy future in this land will remain in grave doubt.

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