Expropriation of the St. Michael's Church of the UOC in Gorodishche

State expropriation of the Church of the Archangel Michael of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the town of Horodyshche

Church address: Cherkasy Region, Horodyshche, Tarasa Shevchenko Street, 1.

In April 2025, the Smila District Prosecutor's Office of the Cherkasy Oblast launched the process of state expropriation of the old St. Michael's Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

After the fall of the USSR, the church was in a state of near disrepair.
Local authorities returned ownership of the church to the UOC parish, under the obligation to restore the church to its original appearance.

Believers and clergy completely restored the church. Even the frescoes were faithfully reproduced from archival materials.

Law enforcement officials decided to take the church away from the Orthodox Christians and make it state property.

On January 16, 2025, the Smila District Prosecutor's Office in Cherkasy Oblast announced the planned expropriation of St. Michael's Church.

The church is an architectural monument of national significance and was built in the neo-Gothic style according to the designs of the Italian architect Giorgio Torricelli. It is distinguished by its resemblance to a Catholic church, and inside, a unique 19th-century mural entitled "The Last Judgment" has been preserved, occupying over 100 square meters.

According to prosecutors, in May 2018, private ownership of the church was registered to the religious community of the St. Michael's Parish of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church based on a 1989 decision of the local executive committee.

However, according to prosecutors, this decision did not contain any direct instructions for the transfer of ownership of the monument to a religious organization. The Cherkasy Regional Commercial Court opened proceedings on the prosecutor's claim, and a trial was scheduled.

Law enforcement agencies were in such a hurry that they simply copied the text of a similar lawsuit filed regarding the expropriation of the UOC Dormition Cathedral in Kaniv.

They listed the Kyiv Metropolitanate of the UOC as a defendant, even though this church belongs to a religious community. The judge played along with the prosecutor's office so much that for a long time he refused to "see" this blatant error by the security forces.

This created an absurd situation: the judge summoned parish representatives to a hearing, while the Metropolitanate was listed as the defendant on paper.

(Source: UOJ)

A month after the trial began, government officials, in collusion with OCU activists, initiated an illegal scheme.
OCU raiders organized the illegal re-registration of the church's religious community.
This move was made in order to change the defendant in the prosecutor's lawsuit against the religious community to a completely loyal party.

Adding to the tragedy of the situation is the fact that the brother of the church's rector, Father John Zhygalo, Bohdan Zhygalo, is implicated in the case.

Bohdan Zhygalo was also once an Orthodox priest. He left the UOC and transferred to the OCU back in 2019. The church parish was illegally re-registered in his name.

Essentially, the OCU cleric is helping the state seize the church from Orthodox Christians and his own brother.

Bohdan Zhygalo filed a motion to dismiss the case on behalf of the parish. The judge dismissed the proceedings.

(Source: Project "DOZOR na Pershomu Kozatskomu")

On May 20, 2025, the Cherkasy Regional Commercial Court ruled to transfer the St. Michael's Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to the state.

"After the court decision comes into force, the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine will acquire the right to dispose of and determine the management method of state property," the decision states.

(Source: UOJ)