Luh. A Group of Raiders Seized the UOC Holy Spirit Church

Holy Spirit Church of the UOC

Address: Zakarpattia Oblast, village of Luh, house 161.

The UOC Holy Spirit Church was illegally transferred to the ownership of the OCU through the falsification of church documents by an organized group of activists.

OCU and UGCC activists, posing as the religious community of the church, convened a meeting of the territorial community at which they voted to change the church's denominational affiliation.

Later, the church was seized by hired raiders from a private security firm.

🔴On July 30, 2023, the press service of the Khust Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church refuted the OCU's claim that the community of the UOC Holy Spirit Church in the village of Luh, Rakhiv district, Zakarpattia, had allegedly decided to join Dumenko's organization.

The diocese noted that the "decision" on the "transfer" was made on July 30, 2023, at a meeting of local residents who have no connection to the Holy Spirit parish.

"On 30.07.2023, a meeting was held in the village of Luh — not a meeting of the religious community of the Holy Spirit Church, but a meeting of the territorial community at the House of Culture, attended by representatives of various denominations, i.e., not parishioners of the aforementioned church," the press service noted. "In accordance with current legislation, the religious community of the Holy Spirit Church in the village of Luh has fixed membership, and not a single member of the community convened a general assembly."

The diocese noted that "the choice of a parish's jurisdiction belongs exclusively to the religious community, and not to matters that can be the subject of a local referendum."

"We emphasize: 'religious community' and 'territorial community' are not identical concepts, and one cannot substitute for the other! Members or clergy of other religious communities with a local registration ('propiska') cannot convene a meeting and adopt such decisions," wrote the press service of the Khust Diocese.

It also reported that the community of the Holy Spirit Church, at a parish assembly held on July 23, unanimously voted to remain within the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The faithful recorded their decision in the minutes and notified in writing the head of the Zakarpattia Regional State Administration and the director of the ODA's Department of Culture.

In connection with the spread of false information by OCU representatives, the community intends to file a complaint with law enforcement authorities.

(Source: UOJ)

🔴On September 2, 2023, OCU activists attempted to seize the UOC Holy Spirit Church in the village.

Several dozen people, led by OCU cleric Ruslan Kocherzhuk, gathered near the church and attempted to force their way in. Parishioners stood in front of the doors, prayed, and prevented the raiders from seizing the church.

The Holy Spirit parish has fixed membership, and all community members are recorded in the registration book.

UOC parishioners managed to defend the Holy Spirit Church from seizure by OCU activists, Greek Catholics, and officials.

On the morning of Sunday, September 3, the community served the Divine Liturgy in front of the church. The raiders did not come to the church.

(Source: UOJ)

🔴On September 18, 2023, a group of people conducted a land survey of the grounds of the UOC Holy Spirit Church, which had been subjected to a seizure attempt by OCU supporters at the beginning of the month.

The surveyors refused to explain their actions to the church's parishioners.

The faithful believed that OCU raiders were thereby attempting to falsify documents for the land plot on which the church stands. The authentic documents are held by the UOC community.

(Source: UOJ)

🔴On the morning of November 11, 2023, unidentified individuals in camouflage bearing chevrons of the private security firm Armor, with the support of police and military personnel, cut the locks and seized the UOC Holy Spirit Church.

Parishioners of the UOC Holy Spirit Church in Luh, Rakhiv district, Zakarpattia, released surveillance camera footage showing men in camouflage entering the church grounds, breaking the locks on the side doors, and seizing the church.

The footage shows men in military uniform approaching the doors, starting an angle grinder, and cutting the lock. They then enter the church.

The raiders closed the gates and blocked parishioners from entering the grounds. According to them, they were conducting an "inventory of property" of the UOC community. One parishioner who managed to get inside the church and was filming was attacked — her phone was knocked away and she was pushed outside the church grounds.

A pregnant parishioner attempted to stop a man in military uniform — whose chevron identified him as a "sergeant major" from the "128th Mountain Assault Brigade" — who had shoved the priest.

The man in military uniform struck her hands in an attempt to knock away her phone. When the woman explained to him that this church offers prayers for the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, he replied that "they can pray for Putin."

The "sergeant major" then shoved the pregnant woman and others, accompanying his actions with obscene language. The police did not react to these actions.

A police representative in the video effectively admitted that he knew who had cut the locks at the UOC Holy Spirit Church.
He named the private security firm "Armor," whose representatives, according to eyewitness accounts, assisted the criminal group.

Moreover, the police officer admitted that the so-called vote "for the transfer of the church" was conducted at a meeting of the territorial community of the village of Luh — that is, he acknowledged that this was not a decision of the religious community.

(Source: UOJ)

🔴On November 12, 2023, the UOC Holy Spirit community in Luh, Zakarpattia, following the seizure of their church by employees of the paramilitary private security firm "Armor," was forced to celebrate the Divine Liturgy outdoors, in the courtyard of the home of the rector, Fr. Volodymyr Lehach.

Around a hundred parishioners prayed in the open air. Their church, which stands directly across from the rector's home, has been under the "guard" of thugs from the private firm "Armor" since November 11. These individuals are not allowing parishioners into their church. According to community members, on November 12 an OCU "service" was held there, attended by only a handful of people.

They also told SPZh that the "military man" who beat the pregnant parishioner and the rector, Protoierei Volodymyr, during the seizure turned out to be the head of "Armor" — Mykhailo Vasylyovych Moisyuk.

(Source: UOJ)