Law enforcers intimidate rector and believers of St. Demetrius parish in Brovary

The parish of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica in Brovary and law enforcers. Photo: "Dozor" collage

Law enforcement officers in Brovary, Kyiv region, are exerting pressure on the clergy and parishioners of St. Demetrius Church of the UOC. This was reported on January 29, 2026, by the Telegram channel "Dozor" following a statement by Kyiv region police about serving a suspicion notice to the parish rector, Archpriest Oleksandr Stepaniuk. The clergyman is accused of "illegal alienation" of the temple complex of the religious community.

According to the source's information, the events are unfolding against the backdrop of an attempted raider seizure of the temple undertaken in spring 2024. At that time, the Brovary City Council deputy Bohdana Drach organized a territorial community meeting with the aim of transferring the parish to the OCU. On the same day, the canonical religious community of the St. Demetrius Church held its own meeting and unanimously confirmed its faithfulness to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Understanding that the process of raider seizure of the shrine had already been launched, Orthodox Christians decided to protect the temple from OCU encroachments.

"The rector registered a charitable foundation, and the parish again held a meeting at which it resolved to transfer the church to the foundation's ownership. As expected, illegal re-registration of the religious community occurred. But the OCU raiders could not take possession of the temple. And then the pressure began," explained "Dozor".

According to "Dozor" data, in June 2025, SBU officers summoned parishioners for "conversations", threatening to fabricate criminal cases if they refused to recognize the voting results as invalid.

Now, as claimed, law enforcement structures are trying to present the religious community's expression of will as document forgery.

Sources report that a week before opening the case, law enforcers came to the rector with threats, promising to "block" the investigation if he renounced the ownership rights registered to the charitable foundation. This, according to them, would have opened the way for unimpeded seizure of the temple. After the priest refused, the pressure escalated into an overt criminal case.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that in Brovary, the rector changed church documents to prevent seizure.

Read also