Rivne, the Ukraine, December 26, 2014
On the night of December 25/26, 2014, two churches were seized in the Rivne Diocese, reports the press service of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC MP) with reference to the Rivne Diocese. These are churches in Badivka village of the Ostroh Deanery and Ptichya village of the Dubno Deanery.
According to the reports, the “Right Sector” nationalist group militants smashed door locks and burst into the church. The instigator of the church seizure in Ptichya village was Igor Zagrebelny, “dean” of the so-called “Kyiv Patriarchate” in the Dubno district.
The faithful of these parishes, in protest against the seizure of churches, blocked the Kiev-Chop road for several times, but the action yielded no results.
On the same night there was also an attempted seizure of the local church in Povcha village of the Rivne region by the schismatics. Despite the pressure, the parishioners succeeded in defending their church. The situation is becoming more tense, the diocese notes.
