In Dnipro, Ministry of Defense attempting to sue UOC for a hospital church
The church on the military hospital grounds remains open, but no services are being held there.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is suing the UOC community of St Ilya Muromets for ownership rights to a church building located on the premises of the military hospital in Dnipro, according to Dnipro Operatyvnyi.
According to court registry materials, the Ministry of Defense, through the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office in the Defense Sector of the Eastern Region, is seeking to annul the state registration of the religious community’s ownership of the building and return it to state property.
The legal battle over the military hospital in Dnipro dates back to 2007, when the Ministry of Defense transferred the buildings to private companies under the pretext of an investment project for reconstruction. These buildings were later used as collateral for bank loans. The State Property Fund initiated legal proceedings to reclaim the hospital in 2015.
The religious community of St Ilya Muromets, which participated in the hearings as a third party, stated that it had received the building as a donation to serve as a church on the hospital grounds.
The dispute between the State Property Fund and the banks went through multiple rounds of litigation. Initially, the Commercial Court of Dnipropetrovsk Region ruled in favor of returning the property to the state, but following appeals and cassation proceedings, the case was sent for reconsideration.
In April 2016, the Commercial Court of the Dnipropetrovsk Region ruled that the property should be returned to the state. Attempts to challenge this decision were unsuccessful; and in October 2016, the Higher Commercial Court issued a final ruling to reclaim the hospital from the banks.
Serhii Bachynskyi, Deputy Commander for Psychological Support of Personnel, explained that the church was removed from the legal proceedings when the state reclaimed the hospital.
“The church was left to the registered religious community, while everything else was returned to state ownership,” Bachynskyi stated. According to him, during the court proceedings, the church was placed in a separate registry, and at that time, the state did not raise any claims against the religious community.
Currently, the church on the military hospital premises remains open, but religious services are not being conducted, as the priest, being a civilian, is not permitted access to the building due to martial law restrictions.
“This church is open. Access is granted only to those who are authorized to enter the premises, meaning patients and hospital staff can go inside,” said Serhii Bachynskyi.
As previously reported by the UOJ, a priest of the Dnipropetrovsk Eparchy of the UOC administered confession and Holy Communion to Ukrainian servicemen in the combat zone.
