On May 10, 2021, at about 6:00 a.m. in the village of Zabolotye, Vladimirsky district of the Rivne region, supporters of the OCU, with the support of district deputies, seized the UOC church in honor of the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, the UOJ reports.

Representatives of the “municipal warta” from the city of Varash and two regional deputies, Gennady Derevyanchuk and Stepan Zhdanyuk, took part in the direct seizure of the temple.

According to the believers of the UOC, they learned about the seizure of the temple from the information in the Viber group “Active Zabolotye”, on the pages of which the OCU activists posted an announcement that a divine service would be held in the temple on May 10 at 6:00 am.

“When I saw the announcement, I immediately ran to the territory of the temple, the locks were cut off, local people, about 30 people, went inside, and the“ municipal varta ”and the deputies Derevyanchuk and Zhdanyuk stood in defense of the temple,” said assistant head Sergei Seredyuk. “If our people, who also ran under the temple, tried to enter, then they were poured with foam from fire extinguishers.”

Now the believers of the UOC have called the police and gathered together to try to defend the temple.