UOC believer fined for cross procession to a neighboring village in Bukovyna

Procession of the UOC to the Pokrovsky Monastery in Molodiya. Photo: FB group "Faithful of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Diocese"

On October 29, 2025, the Hlyboka District Court of Chernivtsi Region fined a local resident for organizing a cross procession of Ukrainian Orthodox Church parishioners. The mass gathering of the faithful took place in early October; the organizer did not appear at the court hearing.

According to the court ruling, law enforcement officers established that at about 7:30 a.m. on October 13, Bukovynian resident Vasyl Tkachuk organized and led a procession of UOC believers. The procession started in the village of Chahor, Chernivtsi District, and proceeded to the Protection Convent in the village of Molodiya, about 1.5 kilometers away.

The court determined that before organizing the procession, Vasyl Tkachuk was required to notify local authorities but failed to do so. In the court’s view, he violated the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law” as well as the directives of the Chernivtsi Regional Defense Council, which prohibit mass pilgrimages and processions during martial law.

The defendant, Vasyl Tkachuk, did not appear in court. The judge ruled to fine the Bukovynian 170 hryvnias.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that a cross procession had taken place in Bukovyna to the St. Volodymyr Monastery in Kolenkivtsi.

Read also