UOC community deprived of its temple on the territory of military unit in Kiev region

In the village of Devichki Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky district of Kiev region, the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, located on the territory of the military unit No. A3085, was taken from the community of the UOC.

According to the UOJ, on Saturday, August 12, 2017, the rector of the church, Archpriest Leonid Smaglyuk and members of the community met with the commander of the unit, Colonel Yevgeny Dobrynin, in order to defend his church. However, they remained with nothing – and the rector left the keys to the temple at the checkpoint.

The church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was consecrated in 2002. According to Archpriest Leonid Smaglyuk, the money for its construction was collected by members of the community – mainly the military and members of their families. For 15 years everything was calm, until in June 2017 a chaplain from the Kiev Patriarchate, Dmitry Voloshin, was appointed to guide the unit.

The chaplain immediately demanded the keys to the temple, being supported by the deputy commander for political affairs. According to the stories of the parishioners, both the leadership of the unit and the chaplain of the KP were generally peaceful in relation to the UOC community. However, at the top there was supposedly an instruction: "There should not be any Moscow spawns here – only the Kyiv Patriarchate will serve!" And since the church is located on the territory of the military unit, the priest of the UOC had no choice but to give the keys to the military.

On Saturday, members of the community wrote an appeal to the village head – they are asked to allocate land for a new church or to give a temporary place for worship services.

In April, Metropolitan Augustine of Belotserkovsk and Boguslav, Chairman of the Synodal Department of the UOC for Interaction with the Armed Forces and other military formations of Ukraine, noted that the UOC is often denied the right to feed the Ukrainian military.