Parishioners chanting at seized church in Ust-Putyla: We are against OCU
The police do not allow UOC parishioners in Ust-Putyla to enter the church. Photo: UOJ
On the day of the Apostle John the Theologian, May 21, 2025, militants of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) seized the St. Paraskeva Church of the UOC in the village of Ust-Putyla in Bukovyna. In a video received from the scene, believers demand that the police allow them into their native church.
Parishioners are chanting: «We are against the OCU!»
They claim that the shrine was seized by people who came from the Ivano-Frankivsk region, under the leadership of the chaplain of the OCU, Hryshchuk.
As reported by the UOJ, the invaders have closed themselves off inside the Orthodox shrine while the police guard them from the parishioners. Those believers who try to enter their shrine are roughly dragged out of the church territory by the police.
Read also
Most Britons oppose abortions, poll finds
The survey found that 62% of UK residents support legal protection for unborn children from the moment their heartbeat is first detected.
Annual academic conference opens at Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary
The fifteenth annual conference was dedicated to the anniversaries of Prince Vasyl-Kostiantyn Ostrožský and Metropolitan Rafail (Zaborovský).
Feminists attack Roman Catholic churches in Latin America
During protest actions, members of radical groups attacked cathedrals in several Latin American countries, assaulted police officers, and threw paint at believers.
UOC hierarch takes part in German bishops’ conference
Bishop Veniamin of Boyarka took part in the OBKD assembly in Düsseldorf.
Ivano-Frankivsk scraps school project planned on demolished UOC church site
The authorities in Ivano-Frankivsk have dropped plans to build the school for whose construction a UOC church was demolished.
Shostatsky to UOC: If you are so righteous – do not cling to your churches
The OCU metropolitan called on UOC faithful and clergy to pray rather than defend their churches from seizures.