UOC priest on church raid: While some fight at war, others seize temples

UOC Archpriest Vitalii Dunets. Photo: video screenshot

In a video address, Archpriest Vitalii Dunets, dean of the Krasyliv district, described how the UOC’s Resurrection Church in Krasyliv, Khmelnytskyi region, was taken over.

He stated that the assailants came to the church around 8 a.m. on May 15. Under the cover of the enforcement service and with the support of police, a group of individuals – including so-called titushky (paid provocateurs) – broke open the gates and cut the locks before storming into the church building.

“Our sacred church, so dear to every resident of Krasyliv and to every faithful member of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, was seized,” Fr. Vitalii said.

According to him, the attackers presented a court ruling ordering his personal eviction from the church, yet he emphasized the ruling was baseless, as he was not the proper respondent in the case.

“At the time the lawsuit was filed in the Krasyliv District Court, the rector of the religious community was another priest – Archpriest Volodymyr Hrushkevych. The court was informed of this, but its goal was clearly to issue a decision at any cost that would justify the church’s seizure,” he explained.

Fr. Vitalii expressed particular concern over the violence that occurred during the takeover. He reported that another priest, Archpriest Oleksandr Dunets, was physically assaulted: “These criminals began choking him and beating him. When Fr. Oleksandr was being choked and struck, not a single police officer intervened. In the video, you can clearly hear him shouting ‘Police! Police!’ – and yet the officers stood by doing nothing.”

The priest underscored that, according to the State Register of Property Rights, the Resurrection Church legally belongs to the UOC community.

“The so-called OCU community of the Resurrection Church has no ownership rights to our church – it is neither registered nor backed by any legal documents,” Fr. Vitalii added.

He spoke with deep sorrow about how the parishioners reacted to the assault: “Our entire religious community is going through a great tragedy. It feels like our heart has been torn out, a deep wound inflicted on every believer. Among those standing at the church gates were wives of soldiers. One mother told her son, a serviceman: ‘Son, look – you’re out there fighting to defend this country, and here they’re taking away our sacred place, the very church you used to attend.’ What a horror this is: some defend our homeland, while others seize our sanctuaries and churches.”

In his address, Fr. Vitalii also named specific individuals involved in the assault: “One of the key participants in the takeover was the well-known Serhiy Bobukh, a resident of Krasyliv. He was the one who pushed me out of the church alongside a gang of masked thugs who desecrated the sanctuary.”

He noted that for the past two years, the faithful had successfully resisted multiple attempts to seize the church: “Lawlessness was taking place with the backing of administrative resources, the police, and even the ‘Obolon’ company. But for two years – day and night – we stood vigil, prayed, and defended our church. We endured several assaults together, and they were terrifying. There were many provocations, even during services. We survived them all together.”

The priest suggested that local workers may be under pressure: “I pity those who are being forced to act against the Church – who are being coerced into taking part in these seizures. Some employees of ‘Obolon,’ such as Serhiy Dediuk and Volodymyr Prodovus, are reportedly terrorizing their coworkers. I am making this statement publicly and trust the proper authorities will investigate how people are being forced to act against their faith and against God.”

Fr. Vitalii also named one of the organizers of the seizure: former UOC priest, now OCU cleric, Archpriest Ivan Kolinich. “It’s especially painful that this happened on the feast of the Holy Passion-Bearers, Princes Boris and Gleb,” he added.

Despite everything, Fr. Vitalii urged the faithful not to lose hope: “We pray and we believe. These are trials the Lord has sent us, and they will surely pass. Our sanctuary – though taken unlawfully – will return to us. It will certainly return.”

In conclusion, Archpriest Vitalii Dunets called on all the faithful to “remain true to God, faithful to the Church, to follow Christ, and not to fall for any manipulation.”

As previously reported by the UOJ, the OCU forcibly seized the Resurrection Church in Krasyliv.

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