OCU shows number of parishioners in seized church of Bezuhlivka

New "parishioners" at St. Michael's Church of Bezuhlivka. Photo: Katia Mazur

On April 15, 2026, the first "service" took place at St. Michael's Church in Bezuhlivka after its seizure from the UOC, reports Nizhyn Post citing local activist Katia Mazur.

Mazur wrote that this event is “a symbol of our unity, a symbol of our struggle, a symbol that the Ukrainian spirit cannot be broken.”

Photographs from the prayer service show that in the church, besides OCU clergy, there were about 15 people. Women are wearing trousers, some without pectoral crosses. In the hands of the worshippers, there are state flags, as well as portraits of unknown people in military uniform, possibly – AFU soldiers. According to Mazur's assurances, they failed to gather everyone willing due to an air raid alert. She did not specify why it was necessary to hold the event during the alert.

In the comments, Nizhyn Post readers received the event mostly negatively.

“Now dance the hopak! That's all you can do in a church! You don't even understand that by dividing the Ukrainian people, you are pushing Ukraine to the abyss, to the end of existence!” wrote Liudmyla Zakharko.

“According to the state registry as of January 1, 2026, 864 people live in the village. In the photo there are 12-15 people. Do 1.8% of community residents decide the fate of the church and other vital issues of the village?” asks Vasyl Mykhayliuk.

“All who participated in the seizure of the church are participants in schism, and schism is not washed away even by martyrdom. There is one more empty church,” wrote Lyubov Mazun.

“Priests came from Nizhyn with their matushkas and children. But where are those 100 village residents who supposedly voted for the 'transition'?” wonders Anatoly Khavilo.

“Wow, so many parishioners! No room for an apple to fall.))) Another church closed, commies?” writes Ta Ti Ana.

Let us recall that on April 15, 2026, OCU supporters cut the doors with an angle grinder and seized an ancient UOC church in Bezuhlivka in the Chernihiv region. 

Read also