Spaska. OCU raiders and police seized a UOC church

The Church of the Holy Great Martyr John of Suceava (UOC)

Address: 25A Heroes of Maidan Street, Spaska village, Chernivtsi Region

The UOC St. John’s Church in the village of Spaska became yet another victim of the raider group linked to the OCU cleric Roman Hryshchuk.

The perpetrator not only helped local OCU activists falsify documents for the church, but also personally took part in the assault.

On February 27, 2025, amid threats by OCU raiders to seize the church, parishioners issued a statement.

In the address, signed by the church’s rector, Priest Oleksandr, and parishioners, it is stated that certain individuals are attempting to raise the issue of changing the community’s church jurisdiction. In response, the Orthodox faithful of Spaska village have firmly declared their unwillingness to join the OCU or any other ecclesiastical structures.

The community, which has 110 registered members, emphasized its right to independently decide church matters and expressed its strong commitment to remaining within the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

(Source: UOJ)

On May 12, 2025, OCU clerics seized the old church.

According to parishioners, the attackers first broke into the side doors, and then from inside knocked out an old 19th-century lock in the main doors.

The seizure was led by the serial raider Roman Hryshchuk.

The church was built in 1876 with funds from the Emperor of Austria and Voivode of Bukovyna, Franz Joseph I.

(Source: UOJ)