Pereyaslav authorities intend to forcibly evict UOC parish from St. Michael's

St. Michael's Church of the UOC in Pereyaslav. Photo: Proslav

In Pereyaslav (Kyiv region), local authorities announced plans for the forcible eviction of the UOC parish from the ancient St. Michael's Church, which has been the center of spiritual life for Orthodox residents of the city for many years, as reported by the Telegram channel "Dozor", citing the Proslav website.

According to clerics and parishioners, the city leadership intends to transfer the church and the territory of the revived monastery to the management of the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve "Pereyaslav". This is about the actual expropriation of the shrine, which the brethren restored by their own efforts after decades of neglect during the Soviet period.

According to media reports, at the city council session on November 20, 2025, deputies decided to "remove obstacles" for the Reserve's work, effectively instructing state structures to evict the UOC religious community from the St. Michael complex. Proslav writes that this involves involving the Ministry of Justice and the police to "free the object from UOC-MP clergy".

The authorities claim that the church de jure belongs to the state and is on the Reserve's balance sheet. At the same time, the fact that the UOC community not only restored the church after the devastation but also maintained it for many years without state assistance is ignored.

The confrontation around the church has lasted for at least two years.

As early as the summer of 2023, a group of activists, unrelated to the religious life of the city, held a vote for the "transition" of all Pereyaslav churches to the OCU in one list. However, the seizure of St. Michael's Monastery failed then - the parishioners preserved the community.

After this, the local authorities initiated the process of terminating the lease agreement. Anti-church forces managed to achieve a formal court decision on "eviction", but in reality, the community continued to live and pray in their shrine, gathering hundreds of believers.

According to Proslav, the city's mayor, Vyacheslav Saulko, told deputies that the 2023 economic court decision must be executed immediately. At the same time, the authorities accuse the executive service and the police of "insufficient activity", demanding to speed up the forced eviction.

St. Michael's Monastery is one of the oldest shrines in the region. After the collapse of the USSR, it was handed over to believers almost completely destroyed. The brethren restored the church, beautified the territory, and created a full-fledged monastery, around which a strong parish grew.

As reported by the UOJ, in Pereyaslav, bulldozers dug up the graves of monks near the monastery.

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