Cherkasy. OCU raiders and police seized a church

Church of the Icon of the Holy Mother of God "Burning Bush" of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Address: Cherkasy, Onoprienko Street. Cherkasy Institute of Fire Safety named after the Heroes of Chernobyl.

The Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Burning Bush" of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was seized by raiders from the OCU, with the assistance of the police and the leadership of the Fire Safety Institute.

On March 18, 2025, representatives of the OCU, along with the police, arrived at the Church of the UOC in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God "Burning Bush" in Cherkasy, presenting falsified parish documents.

The illegal re-registration of the religious community took place on February 28.

At the same time, the leadership of the Cherkasy Fire Safety Institute claimed that the contract with the church parish had expired "long ago." Police produced a letter of permission to use the "re-registered" parish, signed by the rector.

This created an absurd contradiction. It's unclear why the OCU would falsify the parish documents at all, given that the institute owned the church.

Only three people from the "newly formed" community were present: serial OCU raider Nazariy Zasansky, his accomplice, and a lawyer for the Cherkasy OCU.

Several dozen parishioners of the church gathered at the scene. They were allowed to collect their utensils and belongings.