In the village of Vetly, PCU supporters failed to seize the UOC St. Nicholas church
The rector of the UOC church in Vetly refused to hand over the keys to the church to PCU representatives.
The rector of the St. Nicholas church of the UOC in the village of Vetly, Volyn region, refused to hand over the keys to the church to PCU supporters and defended his parish. This was reported by a local media outlet.
Another attempt to seize the church from the UOC community took place on August 25, 2026. Representatives of the enforcement service arrived at the St. Nicholas church together with PCU supporters led by their "rector" Roman Hula, however the rector of the UOC community refused to hand over the keys to the shrine. As a result, the enforcement service drew up a corresponding act.
The church conflict in the village of Vetly has been ongoing since 2022, when supporters of Dumenko's structure fraudulently convened a meeting and, based on its results, drew up an illegal minutes of the assembly of the religious community of the St. Nicholas church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The minutes recorded a decision by "UOC believers" to change jurisdiction and transfer the St. Nicholas church to the PCU. In reality, however, the believers of the St. Nicholas church were not present at the meeting.
Dumenko's supporters initiated legal proceedings, demanding that the UOC priest be compelled to hand over the keys and not obstruct the use of the building. The Liubeshiv District Court and the Volyn Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the PCU, and on June 22, 2026, the Supreme Court returned the cassation appeal of priest Stanislav Skupeiko without consideration.
At present, the keys to the St. Nicholas church remain with the UOC community. However, PCU representatives are confident that the transfer of the church is only a matter of time.
As the UCJ reported, in Kamin-Kashyrskyi, UOC believers are defending their church from transfer to the PCU through the courts.
