Ust-Putyla. Police and OCU Raiders Seized UOC Church

Church of Saint Paraskeva of Serbia – UOC

Address: Chernivtsi Oblast, village of Ust-Putyla

Parishioners of the UOC Church of Saint Paraskeva became victims of a criminal group led by OCU cleric Roman Hryshchuk. The raiders forged documents for the church and then, with the assistance of police, attempted to seize it.

Furthermore, after appealing for help to the U.S. authorities, parishioners of the church began receiving threats from government officials and law-enforcement representatives.

UOC believers succeeded in defending their church against the criminals' encroachments.

On February 2, 2025, parishioners of the UOC Church of Saint Paraskeva decided to convene a meeting of the religious community.

In light of another wave of activity by OCU raiders, the Orthodox Christians did not want anyone to be tempted to begin forging documents and replacing the parish's expression of will.

The religious community unanimously declared that it remains within the UOC.

«We remain in the UOC, which has existed since ancient times. The one our grandfathers and great-grandfathers attended.
In which we were baptized and married. In which our grandfathers and great-grandfathers were buried.
We remain forever in the Holy, Conciliar, Canonical Orthodox Church!»

After the meeting, UOC parishioners appealed to the U.S. government for the protection of their rights.

«We appeal to the U.S. government, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, and international human-rights lawyer Robert Amsterdam, requesting that they put an end to the gross and unwarranted violations of the religious freedoms of our parish and other parishes in Bukovyna — which are likewise subject to persecution.
To prevent raider and forcible seizures of our sacred sites. To monitor the observance of religious rights and freedoms in our country.
To stop the wave of document forgery and seizures of Orthodox churches in Ukraine.
We believe that the inevitability of punishment for OCU raiders will come not only under God's Law at the Last Judgment, but also under human laws here on earth!»

(видео)

On February 4, 2025, the UOC community gathered again to address the question of a possible change of jurisdiction and transfer to the OCU.

A video of the meeting was published on the community's Facebook page.

As a result of the meeting, 276 people unanimously declared their loyalty to the UOC and its Primate, Metropolitan Onufriy. Not a single vote was cast in favor of joining the OCU.

(Source: UOJ)

On the morning of May 21, 2025, OCU militants led by Roman Hryshchuk attempted to seize the church.

Roman Hryshchuk's criminal group broke the locks on the fence and stormed the church grounds.

Believers who had come for the Liturgy were unable to enter their church. The raiders locked themselves inside, while police shielded them from the parishioners. Those believers who attempted to enter their sanctuary were roughly dragged away from the church grounds by police.

«Whose police is this? Is this really a police force that stands with the people? The police are preventing parishioners from praying in their own church. Does that mean we are not the people of Ukraine?» — the believers ask with irony.

Parishioners report that the seizure is being directed by former forestry director Petro Trey. Among the militants who seized the sanctuary, some came from neighboring villages and others are traveling agitators from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, whom the believers refer to as «Hryshchuk's chapel.»

Police guarded the raiders around the perimeter of the church, preventing parishioners from entering their sanctuary.

The footage shows one of the police officers shoving an elderly sexton off the church's high front steps and then roughly grabbing a second parishioner. Upon noticing that one of the female parishioners was filming him, he knocked the phone out of her hands.

Another video shows several police officers dragging one of the believers away from the church.

At around 2:00 a.m., the parishioners managed to re-enter their church and celebrate a nocturnal Divine Liturgy.

The believers entered the church and have been maintaining a round-the-clock vigil to prevent another seizure.

For approximately 13 hours, police prevented parishioners from entering the church.