TRC officers attack UOC metropolitan on highway between Rivne and Lutsk

A section of the road on the highway between Rivne and Lutsk. Photo: rbc

On May 7, 2026, near the village of Derno on the highway between Rivne and Lutsk, TRC officers stopped a car carrying Metropolitan Volodymyr of Volodymyr-Volynskyi and Kovel, Archpriest Oleksandr Kobenko, and Deacon Dymytriy Manetskyi. This was reported by the press service of the Volodymyr-Volynskyi Eparchy.

According to the eparchy, the TRC officers began forcibly pulling the hierarch out of the vehicle without checking documents. When Archpriest Oleksandr tried to protect the metropolitan, pepper spray was used against him, after which the priest was forced to his knees and beaten.

It is reported that Metropolitan Volodymyr and Archpriest Oleksandr were forcibly pushed into a TRC service vehicle. As a result of the stress he endured, the hierarch suffered a heart attack, while the priest developed an acute allergic reaction to the sprayed gas.

Sources also reported that police officers who were nearby did not intervene. Later, the metropolitan and the priest were dropped off not far from the checkpoint, after which the TRC officers and police left in an unknown direction.

The victims’ condition is now assessed as stable. Metropolitan Volodymyr called on UOC clergy to exercise caution and remain vigilant when traveling across Ukraine.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that residents of the village of Lypcha blocked a road, demanding the release of a priest from the TCC.

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