Moshny, Cherkasy Province, November 18, 2025
Photo: pravlife.info
On November 16, armed activists affiliated with the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” forcibly seized the historic Transfiguration Church of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Moshny, Cherkasy Province, according to reports from the DOZOR Telegram channel.
The seizure occurred shortly after the conclusion of the Sunday Liturgy. Witnesses reported that a group of masked raiders wearing yellow armbands—resembling those worn by military personnel during combat operations—broke into the church grounds equipped with batons and tear gas.
According to DOZOR sources, the raiders held the church’s rector Fr. Oleg Markhilevich hostage throughout the day, demanding that he sign documents transferring parish property to the OCU.
The incident also involved an assault on local official Bogdan Shkarbutа, head of the territorial community, who arrived at the scene and requested the raiders show legal documentation for seizing the church, which is designated as an architectural monument. Instead of providing documents, the raiders “attacked the official and pushed him off the territory,” according to witness accounts.
The operation was reportedly coordinated by OCU cleric Andrei Shpunt, with actions on the ground directed by an individual known by the nickname “Bulldozer,” whom sources link to controversial activist Dmitro Korchynsky. Eyewitnesses stated that the raiders brought in reinforcements from Cherkasy city, noting that local OCU support in the village numbers only six people.
Police officers present at the scene reportedly took no action to stop the seizure. Following the takeover, raiders secured the church gates with chains to prevent UOC parishioners from entering.
In a video posted by OCU activists celebrating the seizure, participants can be seen wearing masks and yellow armbands. One activist announced triumphantly that the Orthodox shrine was now under their control, noting that the church was built by Count Vorontsov.
In January 2024, OCU representatives forged re-registration documents for the church. An OCU cleric and his supporters acknowledged in an interview with Suspilne.Cherkasy media outlet that “neither the parish nor the UOC priest had transferred anywhere” and that “the majority of village residents support the UOC,” effectively admitting the falsification.
The Cherkasy Diocese, led by His Eminence Metropolitan Theodosy, has been a particular target of church seizures. Last year, His Eminence was violently attacked during the takeover of St. Michael’s Cathedral, one of the most prominent cases in the ongoing wave of violence and hatred carried out by the OCU, which was created by Patriarch Bartholomew in 2018.
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