In Baranivka, a crowd transfers the church to the OCU

Supporters of the OCU "voted" to transfer the Nativity of the Theotokos Church, belonging to the UOC, in Baranivka, Zhytomyr region, to the jurisdiction of the OCU. This was reported to Ukrinform by Baranivka Mayor Oleksandr Mihei.

According to him, immediately after the vote, the church was closed to believers and sealed. Mihei also noted that the church grounds were being guarded by police officers and members of volunteer territorial defense units.

At the same time, the mayor mentioned that the keys to the church were not handed over to the "new owners", and the parish priest, Archpriest Roman Klym, refused to join the OCU.

"The religious community’s charter will be re-registered soon. <…> The church building is owned by the UOC, but the land beneath it belongs to the city council," he added.

As previously reported by the UOJ, UOC believers managed to defend their church in Baranivka.