UN Report: Radicals Attack UOC Believers and Seize Their Churches

Photo: ctrcenter.org

GENEVA — The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded new attacks on parishioners and supporters of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) between December 2024 and May 2025. This is stated in a UN report on the human rights situation in Ukraine, published on June 30, 2025.

The report specifically describes an incident in the village of Verkhnye Stanivtsi in April, where “a group of unidentified individuals attempted to seize a UOC church building and attacked parishioners” using wooden sticks and pepper spray.

“The UOC reported injuries among its parishioners. Three days later, a similar attack forced UOC parishioners to leave the church. As of the end of the reporting period, they had not been able to return. According to eyewitnesses, the police, who were present during the second incident, did not take action to prevent or stop the violence,” the report states.

As previously reported by the Union of Orthodox Journalists (UOJ) Ukrainian branch (SPZh), the UOC community in Verkhnye Stanivtsi appealed to the UN for protection.

Earlier, the UOJ published a detailed analysis of the attack on the Church of St. Nicholas in Verkhnye Stanivtsi in an article titled "Sacrilege in the Altar and Beaten Parishioners – Is This the Real Face of the OCU?"

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