OCU Raiders Cut the Locks and Seize UOC Church
Police in Ukraine sided with representatives of Epifany Dumenko’s schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine and prevented parishioners from entering their own church.
MINKIVTSI — On Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, a group of Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) raiders seized the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in the village of Minkivtsi, Rivne region. This was reported by the Dozor Telegram channel.
Representatives of the OCU decided not to wait for a court ruling on the illegal re-registration of the church.
Activists of Dumenko’s structure arrived at the holy site with falsified documents and cut the locks on the church doors.
According to reports from the scene, the seizure was directed by Valeriy Ostapchuk, who is listed in the Dumenko group’s documents as the “director of the church.”
Dozor noted that police officers present on the scene behaved in an openly rude manner toward Orthodox clergy and refused to allow UOC parishioners into their own church.
Right before their eyes, the raiders broke down the church doors while the law enforcement officers merely stood by and watched.
Previously, UOJ reported that on September 28, 2025, in the village of Nahoryany, Chernivtsi region, a group of men forced open the doors of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of the Nativity of the Mother of God using an angle grinder, a crowbar, and other tools.
