Mykola Herheliuk

Mykola Herheliuk

OCU cleric Mykola Herheliuk took part in the persecution of believers and clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the moment of his appointment as a state registrar at the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration.

Herheliuk deliberately entered false information into the registration documents of UOC religious communities. Moreover, while holding public office, he assisted in the falsification of documents for churches and in the illegal re-registration of UOC parishes in favor of the OCU.

While working at the Regional State Administration, the official personally participated in church seizures. It later became known that Mykola Herheliuk officially became a deacon of the OCU, in whose interests he carried out corrupt activities within the Chernivtsi regional administration.

After his dismissal from office for numerous violations of the law, Herheliuk continued organizing illegal meetings of territorial communities and assaults on UOC churches.

As of September 25, 2019, while serving as a state registrar of the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration, Mykola Herheliuk illegally introduced changes into the documentation of 17 religious communities of the UOC.

All of these churches were unlawfully re-registered as property of the OCU.

In particular, Herheliuk re-registered into the OCU the following UOC churches:
– St Michael’s Church in the village of Zadubrivka
– the Dormition Church in the village of Mykhalcha
– the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the village of Zavoloka
– the Ascension Church in the village of Rynhach
– the Dormition Church in the village of Vaslovivtsi
– the Dormition Church in the village of Tovtry
– St Paraskeva’s Church in the village of Chervona Dibrova
– the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos Church in the village of Boyanchuk

On May 10, 2019, acting on a court order, the National Police opened a criminal case under Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine for official forgery committed by officials of the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration – namely, the issuance of knowingly false orders, the inclusion of deliberately false information in official documents, and related actions.

Mykola Herheliuk became a defendant in this criminal case.

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On January 31, 2020, Archpriest Nikolai Popescu addressed Herheliuk with a request to change the head of the religious organization dedicated to St Nicholas in the village of Chudei of the Storozhynets Deanery of the Chernivtsi–Bukovyna Eparchy of the UOC.

Herheliuk refused to make the changes and unlawfully demanded that the clergyman amend the charter documents by renaming the community as “ROC in Ukraine.”

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In May 2020, the state registrar of the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration, Mykola Herheliuk, who had “transferred” 17 communities of the canonical Church to the OCU in violation of current legislation, received a disciplinary sanction from the administration – a formal reprimand.

This is stated in an official response from Oksana Fylypchuk, Head of the Department of Culture of the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration, dated May 15, 2020, received by the Consistory of the Chernivtsi–Bukovyna Eparchy of the UOC

Mykola Herheliuk became the leader of the list of so-called “black registrars,” against whose actions the largest number of complaints were filed.

In 2022, more than one hundred complaints were lodged against him by UOC religious organizations. It was established that Herheliuk altered their names in the state registry, adding phrases such as “Not specified as belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).” Most of these complaints were upheld, and the registrar’s access to the registry was blocked for three months. However, such entries are still encountered in the registries.

(Source: Novoye Vremia)

On September 28, 2023, OCU activists, with the support of radicals and police, seized the Church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel in the village of Stara Zhadova, Chernivtsi region.

The church raid was organized by Mykola Herheliuk.

(Source: SPZh)

On February 16, 2025, in Chernivtsi, a crowd of unidentified individuals led by several OCU clerics held a “meeting” outside the fence of the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the UOC to “transfer” three churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church at once – the Holy Spirit Cathedral, St Nicholas Cathedral, and the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.

Herheliuk took part in the falsifications and in organizing this illegal gathering. (Source: SPZh)

On the night of March 21, 2025, a group of OCU raiders broke into the territory of the St Nicholas Church of the UOC in the village of Maliatyntsi, Chernivtsi region.

The criminal group cut the locks and entered the church.

According to information from the scene, the raiders brought in a team from other localities. The seizure was overseen by OCU cleric Herheliuk.

On February 2, activists had organized a “meeting” regarding the fate of the church. The parish community was present. According to eyewitnesses, 114 parishioners voted to remain with the UOC, while 74 activists voted for a “transfer to the OCU.”

The raiders falsified documents in which they deliberately failed to count the votes of the parish.

On April 12, 2025, Mykola Herheliuk took part in the raider seizure of the St Nicholas Church of the UOC in the village of Verkhni Stanivtsi, Chernivtsi region.

Herheliuk personally broke down the doors of the church with a crowbar.

On June 17, 2025, OCU cleric Roman Hryshchuk, together with his son and four associates, including Mykola Herheliuk, broke the gates of the St Nicholas Church of the UOC in Chernivtsi.

On June 21, 2025, for the second time, the parish of the St Nicholas Church of the UOC in the village of Kobolchyn in Bukovyna was forced to defend its church from OCU raiders.

Orthodox Christians gathered in the center of the village. After praying for the repose of fallen soldiers, UOC believers held a meeting of the religious community.

At the same time, local raiders under the leadership of the serial offenders Herheliuk and Hryshchuk were assembling in an undisclosed location.

(Source: DOZOR project on Pershyi Kozatskyi)