Bucha, Kiev Province, Ukraine, February 2, 2026
The nuns of St. Nicholas-Krupitsky Monastery were forcibly evicted and the monastery was converted into a “restricted facility.” Photo: Dozor (Telegram)
Persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) continues across Ukraine, with recent developments in Bucha and at the Krupitsky Monastery highlighting the ongoing campaign.
In Bucha, a UOC church forcibly transferred to the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” (OCU) in 2023 now stands largely abandoned and faces closure due to unpaid rent.
According to the UOC Information and Education Department, the seizure of the Church of the Queen of All Icon of the Mother of God took place according to the usual scenario, when local authorities organized a “community meeting” where people who were neither parishioners nor participants in the church’s liturgical life voted to change its jurisdiction, Despite opposition from the rector and actual believers.
The legitimate community and their priest were expelled from the church, which parishioners had spent years converting from a former utility building.
The OCU has failed to establish a functioning parish community. Instead of regular services, the church only sells candles and accepts prayer lists that are then given to another church. No priest has been assigned.
The Church of the Queen of All Icon in Bucha. Photo: Instant Street View
The church building is owned by a state company and was under lease. The UOC community regularly paid monthly rent of approximately 9,000 hryvnia through parishioners’ donations. After the leadership change, the same lease obligations remained. However, over the course of nearly three years, significant debt has accumulated that can’t be covered by candle sales. The community now faces liquidation, and the state company may restore the building’s status as a warehouse or convert it for commercial purposes.
Meanwhile, at the St. Nicholas-Krupitsky Convent, whose nuns were forcibly evicted last month, officials from the Hetman Capital National Historical and Cultural Preserve have transformed the monastery into a “restricted facility” and blocked the gates.
“There’s a lock on the gate. They locked it and won’t let us in. They said that from now on this is a ‘restricted facility.’ They didn’t tell us what kind. Prison? Military? I don’t know,” Abbess Dorothea commented.
Not all buildings on the monastery grounds legally belong to the state, yet security forces have blocked everything and set up passport checks at the entrance.
Mother Dorothea explained that the monastery has always been small. “There were five of us, one went to the Lord, and now there are four of us. And these five nuns—we raised this monastery from ruins... And everything we were able to do in this life is now in the hands of strangers,” she said.
The nuns have found shelter in the small abbess’ building and refuse to leave. Armed guards accompany them everywhere, even to feed the chickens. Mother Dorothea refuted media reports about an alleged voluntary transfer, stating she never handed over keys or signed any documents. “I won’t go anywhere. And my sisters won’t go. Because this is our home. This is the place of our repose, of our modest labors,” she said.
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