Cash for denunciation: Chyhyryn activist pays for reports on UOC priests

Illustrative image: church and money. Photo: travels.in.ua

On September 5, 2025, in the city of Chyhyryn (Cherkasy region), local activist Oleh Bun published a Facebook post promising to pay 5,000 UAH to anyone who provides “proof” that local Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) parishes are promoting the so-called “Russian World” or justifying Russian aggression.

“Can the heritage of free Cossacks, the spirit of independence, the symbol of will and struggle, coexist with the elements of Muscovite propaganda? It turns out they can! …On the one hand, Chyhyryn celebrates the Day of the Defender of Ukraine and the Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, while on the other – literally 500 meters away – so-called ‘services’ of the Moscow Patriarchate are held,” Bun wrote.

After the post appeared, a parishioner of the Holy Kazan Cathedral in Chyhyryn responded. She wrote that she is a member of the parish and that her son serves in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The woman invited Bun to attend a service himself to see that there is “no propaganda in the church.”

“The doors of our church are open to everyone – come, dear Mr. Oleh, and you will personally hear this ‘propaganda.’ In our church we offer prayers to God for our army, for peace, for our Ukraine, and for all Orthodox people.”

She also suggested that the promised 5,000 hryvnias would be better spent helping soldiers: “You'd better send that money to our guys in the 81st Airmobile Brigade in Donetsk region – where my son is. They really need help.”

In response, Oleh Bun wrote that, in his opinion, the mentioned church already “belongs to the OCU,” citing a local “parish meeting” and its “transfer.” He added that he hoped law enforcement would “properly evaluate” why people “still worship the UOC-MP there.”

Believers of the UOC view the activist’s post as a provocation and an incitement to denunciation, which could serve as a pretext for pressure and possible church seizures in the region.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that in Vaslovivtsi, the foundation of a new church was consecrated to replace one that had been seized.

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