In Chernivtsi, unknown individuals “transfer” three UOC churches to OCU

A vote by unidentified individuals in Chernivtsi. Photo: Ukr.net

On May 18, 2025, in Chernivtsi, a group of unidentified individuals held a vote to transfer three parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU): the Protection (Pokrova), St. Basil, and St. Seraphim parishes. This was reported by Ukr.net, citing a post from one of the OCU groups on Facebook.

Photos from the event show around thirty people gathered in an unknown office space decorated with EU and Ukrainian flags. Under the leadership of OCU clergy, they conducted an illegal vote.

Commenters in the Facebook group noted that these individuals had no connection to the actual UOC parishes.

“Interestingly, the actual parishioners of these churches didn’t take part in the vote, and no voting took place in the churches themselves. Neither the priests nor the faithful, who have attended and served in these churches for years, knew anything about this. Why spread false information?” wrote a user named Olka.

According to UOJ sources, not a single genuine parishioner of the listed UOC churches was present at the gathering. Instead, members of OCU communities, brought together by clergy affiliated with Dumenko (Epiphanius), participated in the meeting.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that in the Bukovynian town of Zastavna, a mob led by an OCU cleric seized the Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos.

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