In Rzhavintsy, Bukovyna, OCU activists together with police raid UOC temple

Raiders breaking the door of the UOC temple in the village of Rzhavintsy. Photo: a video screenshot from the Facebook page of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Eparchy

On 20 December 2023, in the village of Rzhavintsy, Chernivtsi region, OCU supporters seized the Holy Trinity Church of the UOC, reports the press service of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Raiders backed by police officers with the help of a crowbar and an angle grinder broke the door of the temple and got inside.

The seizure of the shrine was personally led by the chairman of the Yurkovtsy Village Council Vitaliy Shafer (Rzhavintsy belongs to the Yurkovetsky UTC).

"This is how a ‘voluntary’ transfer to the OCU looks like when the police fence off the temple parishioners and the raiders break down the door. What god do they pray to after that?" the press service commented on the video of the temple seizure, published on the eparchy's Facebook page.

On 24 November 2023, activists and "priests" of the OCU held a meeting of their supporters in the village House of Culture, where they voted for the "transition" of the Trinity parish of the UOC to the Epifaniy Dumenko structure.

As reported, on 18 December 2023, OCU raiders seized the UOC's Peter and Paul Church in the town of Bucha, Kyiv region.

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