Video posted on the Web of an OCU cleric opening UOC temple with a crowbar
The cleric of the OCU breaks down the door in the Boris and Gleb church of Pereyaslav. Photo: screenshot of the video of the First Cossack Tg channel
On November 13, a group of OCU supporters came to the church of the holy princes Boris and Gleb in the city of Pereyaslav. A video of the break-in was published on the First Cossack Telegram channel.
The rector of the temple, priest Oleg Rodionov, said that five people came to the temple, among whom were OCU clerics Serhiy Lushchak, who had been appointed rector in the seized Exaltation of the Cross Church in the village of Demyantsi, Pereyaslav’s “dean” Ivan Bobytko, the “headman” of the temple, as well as local residents. "Priest" Lushchak took a crowbar and tore the lock off the door.
“The chains will collapse, and freedom will meet you joyfully at the entrance,” he quoted cynically the poems of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, while wielding a crowbar.
“They took a crowbar and a tire iron with them – they went to the temple as it ‘befits’ Orthodox Christians,” Fr. Oleg quipped.
According to the UOC rector, the police officers arrived at the scene after the OCU members entered the building.
Recall that on November 13, supporters of the OCU seized the Boris and Gleb Church in Pereyaslav.
Read also
American Citizen Beaten to Death by Israeli Settlers in West Bank
U.S. State Department “aware” as rights groups demand accountability amid rising settler violence.
Orthodox Christian Mission Center Names Dr. Nathan Hoppe as New Executive Director
Longtime missionary and church leader to succeed Fr. Martin Ritsi in January 2026.
Armenian PM: I Will Lead the "Liberation" of the Armenian Apostolic Church
The Prime Minister accused the leadership of the Armenian Church of having lost its connection to Christ and called it part of an anti-state conspiracy.
Metropolitan Onuphry Could Face Deportation
A Ukrainian political analyst speculated that Ukraine's primate could be sent to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange.
Moldovan Church Hierarch: Authorities Are Interfering in Church Affairs
Archbishop Marcellus accuses the Moldovan government of pressuring the Church and applying double standards in favor of the Romanian Patriarchate.
Ukrainian MP Vyatrovych: “Law Banning the UOC Is Now Being Put into Practice”
The deputy confirms the government is beginning to implement the controversial law against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church following an official report by the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience.