Odesa appeals court rejects prosecutors’ bid to seize UOC church

Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “of the Sign” in Odesa. Photo: open sources

On September 17, 2026, the Southwestern Commercial Court of Appeal rejected an appeal by the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office seeking to seize the building of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “of the Sign” from the UOC’s Odesa Eparchy. A copy of the court ruling was sent to the UOJ editorial office.

The panel of judges upheld the May 6, 2025 ruling of the Commercial Court of Odesa Region, rejecting the claims brought by prosecutors on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Science and the State Property Fund of Ukraine.

The court found that the prosecutors had chosen an improper legal remedy by seeking to recover the property through a vindication claim – a legal action for the return of property from unlawful possession – despite the existence of contractual relations between the parties. Such a claim can be used to recover property only when no contractual relationship exists between the parties.

The church was built with funds provided by the community under a 2007 investment agreement. According to the case materials, the faithful contributed 84.9% of the total construction cost.

“Recovery of property through vindication applies to property-law relations, in particular when there are no contractual relations between the owner and the possessor of the property,” the ruling states. “The existence of such relations between the parties precludes the use of vindication as a remedy in the disputed legal relationship.”

The court also took into account that since 2009 the building has been continuously and openly used by the UOC community solely for its intended purpose – holding divine services and administering the sacraments. At the same time, government authorities and the relevant ministry had known for many years about the church’s existence and use and had raised no objections.

Prosecutors had previously sought to prove that the church was built through the reconstruction of part of an academic building belonging to the Odesa Institute of Finance and demanded that the property be transferred to the institution’s balance sheet. In May 2025, the trial court dismissed the prosecutors’ lawsuit in full, after which the Prosecutor’s Office filed an appeal.

Attempts to seize the church have continued since 2024, but the courts have consistently upheld the Orthodox community’s legal rights.

As the UOJ previously reported, four cases involving the UOC are currently being heard by courts in the Ternopil region.

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