Tkachenko promises to dismantle Tithes Church

Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko announced the dismantling of the Church of the Tithes Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, calling it the unauthorized construction of the UOC. He wrote about this on his Facebook page.

“Unauthorized seizure of the site began in 2008. At first, the building looked like three interlocked stalls. In 2012, under Yanukovych, the ‘legalization’ of illegal construction began. This religious organization has never received any construction permits, including for the use of the land plot. The building itself was built without an approved project, without obtaining building permits. The building was not commissioned in accordance with the established procedure,” the minister wrote.

Tkachenko said that since 2020, there has been a trial on a lawsuit from the National Museum of the History of Ukraine to remove obstacles to the use of the land plot by demolishing an unauthorized object.

“The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine is involved in the matter as a third party and contributes to this process. At present, the examination has already been completed, and the next court session has already been scheduled for January 18, 2023, so there is reasonable hope that the dispute will soon be resolved in a legal way,” he said.

As the UOJ reported, in January 2018, radicals stormed the Tithes Monastery. "Activists" repeatedly held actions near its walls and promised to "demolish" the monastery. On January 26, the radicals attempted to set fire to the temple. Thousands of people gathered for a prayer service in defense of the monastery.