Lawyer reports new attempts to seize Demiivka church in Kyiv

Ascension Church in Kyiv’s Demiivka district. Photo: UOC parish Facebook page

Kyiv officials re-registered the religious community in favor of the OCU and amended its records in the Unified State Register. Attorney Nikita Chekman reported new attempts to seize the UOC’s Ascension Church in Kyiv’s Demiivka district.

On July 28, 2026, state registrars made changes to the Unified State Register concerning the religious community of the Ascension Church in Demiivka. Officials changed the parish’s affiliation from the UOC to the OCU, altered information about its governing bodies and registered address, and registered a new version of its charter.

The human rights defender drew particular attention to what he described as the suspicious chronology of the Kyiv authorities’ actions. On July 16, 2026, Tymur Tkachenko was dismissed as head of the Kyiv City Military Administration. That same day, his first deputy, Andriy Tkachev, assumed the duties of acting head. Just seven days later, on July 23, the new KCMA leadership signed an order registering what Chekman called the community’s unlawful charter.

Lawyers are already preparing legal action in response. “Our team of attorneys is already taking all measures provided for by law to challenge these actions in court,” Nikita Chekman said. “We will definitely defend our religious community.”

The attorney also called on believers to pray for the church rector, Archpriest Pavlo Kyrylov, and the parishioners of the Ascension Church in Demiivka.

The officials’ actions continue what Chekman described as a chain of irregularities surrounding the historic Demiivka parish. Earlier, on March 31, 2026, registrar Oleh Shepel, acting on the basis of what was described as a falsified meeting protocol, unlawfully replaced parish rector Archpriest Pavlo Kyrylov in the register with OCU representative Taras Pikus.

The legitimate members of the community did not hold that meeting. On April 8, the faithful held an actual parish meeting, confirmed Fr Pavlo’s authority, and called on officials not to register forged documents. The authorities, however, ignored the parishioners’ demands.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that prosecutors were seeking through the courts to seize a UOC church in central Odesa.

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