Raiders сut locks off UOC church in Kuzmyn – a takeover is underway

Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos in Kuzmyn. Photo: Khmelnytskyi Eparchy

Early in the morning of February 9, 2026, representatives of the OCU used an angle grinder to cut through the locks on the UOC Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos in the village of Kuzmyn, Khmelnytskyi region, and entered the building. Parishioners of the UOC later arrived at the church. OCU activists tried to block them, but the faithful were able to enter their own church. Police and Ukraine’s Security Service arrived at the site, but so far have not intervened.

According to the UOJ, officials brought in public-sector employees – kindergarten staff and teachers from the local school.

As a reminder, on December 22, 2025, the authorities organized a staged meeting at the local culture center, gathering people who had no connection to the church and who then voted for the parish’s “transfer” to the OCU. After that, the rector and parishioners appealed for protection to the U.S. Congress, fearing a violent seizure of their church. Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna said she was taking the situation under her personal oversight. Even so, the authorities of the Khmelnytskyi region signed an order to re-register the religious community of the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Kuzmyn under OCU jurisdiction. In turn, the congresswoman demanded explanations from Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Stefanishyna.

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