When building a church is banned – is that “freedom of faith”?

The authorities stopped the construction of the UOC church in Nichohivka. Photo: Suspilne

The village of Nichohivka in Volyn is yet another example of the unprecedented “freedom of faith” that Ukrainian officials – and UCCRO members – so love to talk about in the West.

In 2019, OCU supporters seized the St. Nicholas community’s church, beating parishioners in the process. After that, the faithful began holding services in an old, unheated house. But in 2025, under highly suspicious circumstances, a fire broke out there. Everything burned down. The community then began building a small new church on a private plot. One would think this was their lawful right, guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine.

But the local OCU “priest,” Lushchynskyi, appealed to the authorities “to ban the Moscow Patriarchate’s activities in our village altogether and stop their construction.” He claimed that “our entire district has joined the OCU” and complained that Nichohivka had become a center where UOC faithful from nearby villages came to pray. The regional council responded to Lushchynskyi’s denunciation and demanded that the village head halt the construction. He complied: with police assistance, the work was stopped.

The result: UOC faithful from Nichohivka and neighboring villages now have nowhere to pray. A textbook example of freedom of religion. And anyone who objects is, of course, a Kremlin agent.

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