Video shows OCU cleric forcibly breaking down UOC church door in Zastavna

“Priest” of the OCU personally breaks down the door of a UOC church in Zastavna. Photo: Dozor

On May 16, 2025, a group of raiders led by clerics of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) seized the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos Church in the village of Zastavna, Chernivtsi region. The Dozor Telegram channel published a video showing a “priest” of Dumenko’s structure forcibly breaking down the church door.

At first, the OCU cleric and other raiders used a crowbar to force open the gates and stormed the church grounds.

“The parishioners stood in front of the door to prevent the raiders from defiling the sanctuary. OCU activists sang the national anthem as they attacked the faithful and seized the church,” the report stated.

After police pushed the believers away from the entrance to their sacred site, an OCU “clergyman” personally began breaking down the church door.

As previously reported by the UOJ, a UOC priest commented on the recent assault in Krasyliv: “While some fight in the war, others seize churches.”

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