Liepliavo. OCU Raiders Seized UOC Church with Help from Local Authorities

St. Nicholas the Wonderworker Church of the UOC

Address: Cherkasy Oblast, village of Liepliavo

In the village of Liepliavo, a group of OCU raiders, in collusion with local government officials, illegally seized the Holy Nicholas Church of the UOC.

On April 20, 2026, a group of OCU raiders seized the Holy Nicholas Church of the UOC.

The Cherkasy Eparchy of the OCU published an indignant statement regarding the condition of the church.

The OCU complained that the faithful had removed icons and all church property from the building, which they intend to use for religious services in a different premises.

The OCU press service claims that this was done on the orders of Metropolitan Feodosiy.

According to sources from the "DOZOR on the First Cossack" project, the church premises had not been properly registered.

A UOC clergyman began building the church on the promise of the local village council to immediately formalize the documents for the land and the structure.

The church was built, but the officials never kept their word.

OCU raiders carried out an illegal re-registration of the church's religious community as far back as 2025.

However, the church building did not belong to the parish, and therefore they had been unable to seize it.

The leadership of the local United Territorial Community (UTC) announced that they were placing the church building on their balance sheet.

Notably, officials have no right to place churches on their balance sheet, which is why they refer to the church using the vague designation "unauthorized structure."

In violation of the law, the UTC did not even attempt to identify the owner — had they done so, the rector would have immediately provided all documents for the building materials.

In effect, the UTC appropriated the church building and, without any legal basis, transferred it for use by OCU raiders.

(Source: "DOZOR on the First Cossack" Project)