Krasyliv. The Seizure of the Resurrection Cathedral of the UOC in Khmelnytskyi Region, Carried Out with Police Assistance

On May 15, 2025, the Resurrection Cathedral in the city of Krasyliv was seized by a group of OCU militants – with the active support and cover of local authorities, the police and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

OCU raiders had attempted to seize the Resurrection Cathedral four times. After falsifying documents for the church, PCU activists did not abandon their efforts to wrest the sanctuary from Orthodox Christians.

On May 15, 2025, around eight in the morning, a group of PCU militants broke down the cathedral doors.

One of the UOC clergy who tried to stop the attackers was thrown to the floor. The militants seized his phone, which contained footage of the locks being smashed.

The police immediately blocked access to the cathedral grounds.

Among those involved in the seizure was Serhii Bobukh, director of the Khmelnytskyi municipal enterprise “Electrotrans.”

Witnesses also identified several high-ranking Ukrainian security officers in civilian clothing who refused to present identification.

One of them – Yurii Oleksandrovych Sharahov of the SBU’s Khmelnytskyi regional office.

Another – Roman Tomchyshyn, head of the Krasyliv Police Department.

Yet another – Valentyn Bilianskyi, chief of the Preventive Activity Department of the National Police in the Khmelnytskyi Region.