Media detail how OCU organized assault in Mikhalcha

The Holy Dormition Church of the UOC in Mikhalcha, 12.12.2020. Photo: the Information Department of the Chernivtsi Eparchy

By the end of 2020, the supporters of the OCU in Bukovina realized that they should not fear punishment for their crimes, and with renewed vigour and energy began to seize the shrines of the UOC. The details of the storming of the Holy Dormition Church in Mikhalcha, Chernivtsi region, and the analysis of the events that preceded it were presented in their special project "Dozor" by the “1Kozak” journalists.

“The provocations of the followers of the OCU in the Chernivtsi region continued on the rise until May this year, when a bloody attack was made on the church in the village of Zadubrivka. <...> Frightened by the resonance caused by their attempt to seize the Archangel Michael Church, the OCU in Bukovina decided to lie low, to hide and see how it all ended. As we can already state, this did not end with anything terrible for the OCU – the law enforcement officers who promised to punish the guilty did not even try to detain the raiders, and the cases that had to be opened were qualified as hooliganism. The authorities, in turn, did not retreat from the principle of non-interference in the infringement of the rights of the UOC faithful and preferred to keep silent about this lawlessness, thereby encouraging it. Thus, by the end of 2020, Epiphany's supporters realized that, in principle, they had nothing to fear, and the police, as was the case before, are likely to ignore the crimes, and the authorities will bless the seizure with their silence. So, you can get down to business, with new strength and energy,” explain the authors of the video.

It is noted that the seizure of the church in Mikhalcha, which was carefully planned, could be associated with another significant event for the supporters of the OCU – the first divine service of the Phanar hierarch in the capital's St.Andrew's Church, which took place the next day, December 13.

“It was to this event, according to some opinions, that it was planned to hold back-to-back with the triumphant "transition" of the next Orthodox church to the jurisdiction of the OCU. And the seizure would have taken place if not for two factors: the adequate work of the KORD (Rapid Operational Response Unit – Ed.) and the self-organization of believers, which is at the highest level in the eparchy. <...> Precisely due to the fact that the UOC faithful of Mikhalcha have been vigilantly guarding their shrine for more than 600 days and courageously fighting for their church, neither armed raiders nor help to these raiders on behalf of the authorities is able to crush the real warriors of Christ," the authors of the story noted.

As reported, after the attempted assault of the UOC church in Mikhalcha, the police opened three criminal cases.

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