Cherkasy authorities attempt to declare seized UOC cathedral "ownerless"
The legal department of the Cherkasy Diocese called on the authorities to refrain from any unlawful actions.
The Cherkasy Diocese of the UOC has refuted attempts by the authorities to legalize the seizure of the St. Michael's Cathedral through a scheme of declaring it "ownerless" property. The corresponding statement by the diocese's legal department was published by the Telegram channel "Dozor."
The head of the diocese's legal department, Archpriest Georgiy Pohranychny, emphasized that the cathedral was built by the community through donations from the faithful since 1999. The legal status of ownership is confirmed by Decision No. 929 of the Cherkasy City Executive Committee dated August 21, 2001, according to which the diocese was allocated 12.0583 hectares of land for permanent use.
The community possesses technical passports, inventory records, and land management documentation in which the UOC is listed as the client and owner. The diocese openly owned, maintained, and used the cathedral for 23 years prior to its forcible seizure on October 17, 2024.
At present, the Kyiv Metropolitanate of the UOC is defending its rights in the Commercial Court of the city of Kyiv. On July 22, 2026, the court opened proceedings in case No. 910/8383/26 concerning the annulment of the unlawful order of the Ministry of Justice. The existence of an active legal dispute directly proves the existence of a lawful owner and makes it impossible to declare the property "ownerless."
Earlier, the Cherkasy prosecutor's office initiated the procedure for transferring the shrine to communal ownership, claiming that information about the owner of the building complex was allegedly "absent." The district prosecutor's office sent a request to the city council demanding that the owner be "identified," even though the same document acknowledged that ownership of the cathedral had been registered under the Cherkasy Diocese of the UOC as far back as December 10, 2018.
As the SPJ reported, the Cherkasy city council transferred to the OCU the land beneath the seized St. Michael's Cathedral.
