OCU in Tomashpil demands access to UOC-owned church

Father Mykhailo Krychkovskyi near the UOC church. Photo: Suspilne Vinnytsia

In December 2025, in the urban-type settlement of Tomashpil in Vinnytsia region, supporters of the OCU demanded access to the Dormition Church, which legally and in fact belongs to the local community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The report comes from Suspilne Vinnytsia.

For several years, OCU faithful have been conducting services in a former school building, yet now insist on alternating services in the functioning UOC church. They themselves acknowledge that the UOC community does not persecute anyone and peacefully conducts its worship. UOC believers note that these attempts at pressure from the OCU seem entirely contrived: “They have their own premises – why isn’t it enough? Why stir up unrest here again?” says local parishioner Maria.

The UOC rector, Archpriest Mykhailo Krychkovskyi, stresses that the church is the property of the community and restricts no one: “They have their own place; no one stands in their way. Why cause turmoil?”

Other UOC parishioners openly speak of an attempt to disrupt the peaceful life of the community: “We have prayed here our entire lives. The church is our home. And no one has the right to tear it away from us under the pretext of ‘alternating services’,” says Valentina, a parishioner.

The regional Office for Religious Affairs confirms: the church was officially returned to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by an order of the head of the Regional Administration back in 2016. This decision can be reversed only through the courts, and therefore any claims by the OCU must be resolved strictly by legal means.

Officials acknowledge that the OCU may initiate court proceedings, but emphasize that as of today, all rights to the church belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and there are no grounds for its confiscation.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that local authorities restricted the OCU’s access to a seized church in Moshny.

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