Military Recruitment Center abducts UOC priest at bus stop in Rivne region

Priest Andriy Panasiuk. Photo: Rivne Eparchy

On November 19, 2025, employees of the Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center abducted Fr. Andriy Panasiuk, rector of the St. Michael’s Church in the village of Buscha, Rivne Eparchy. The detention took place at a bus stop in the village of Zdobnytsia.

The recruitment officers confiscated Fr. Andriy’s phone, depriving him of any possibility of contacting his family. According to Roman Halibin, head of the fourth department of the Rivne District TRC, who responded to an inquiry from the outlet ZAXID, Fr. Andriy had been considered a violator of military registration since April 2025.

The TRC reported that on the very day of his apprehension, the priest was taken through the Military Medical Commission, declared fit for service, and sent to the training ground in Mala Liubasha. The officers justified the confiscation of his phone as a measure to prevent information leaks that could potentially be used to adjust enemy strikes.

It is worth recalling that in March 2019, supporters of the OCU forcibly seized the St. Michael’s Church from the UOC community in Buscha. This autumn, the parish built a new church to replace the one taken from them. In 2021, Bishop Pimen consecrated the new St. Michael’s Church. Now, the community is once again left without a rector.

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