On October 23, 2022, in the village of Pishchov (Zhytomyr diocese), with complete inactivity of the police, supporters of the OCU seized the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin. The details of the capture were told to the UOJ by the cleric of the temple, Priest Nikolai Labunets.

According to Father Nikolai, at 8 am on Sunday, the inhabitants of the village, supporters of the OCU, gathered in front of the church, headed by the chairman of the village council, Andrey Borisovich Radulevich. They presented Father Nikolai with a fake document on the registration of the OCU community. At the same time, the police were near the temple, but they did not take any action. “Knocked down the door! They hit Mother in the face, they pushed us… The police were inactive, they didn’t take any action at all!” the priest said.

OCU activists, using the “lost documents” scheme, received a certificate of registration of the OCU community. After that, on October 23, having presented it to the police, to the singing of the hymn, they pushed the believers of the UOC from the territory near the temple and seized the temple. The certificate received by the OCU raiders contained the phone number of the rector of the UOC Church in honor of the Nativity of the Mother of God, Archpriest Sergiy Matviychuk, and the date of registration of the community – 1992, when the OCU did not yet exist.

According to Father Nikolai, on the same day, the rector of the UOC temple decided to seek justice in court.