On May 20, 2023, armed supporters of the OCU in balaclavas seized the Ascension Church of the UOC in the village of Ryngach in Bukovina and beat the rector Priest Serafim Dumitrovich and parishioners. This was reported by the press service of the Chernivtsi-Bukovina diocese, reports the Information and Education Department of the UOC.

The report says that the parish was preparing for the temple feast, the rector of the temple, Father Seraphim, the headman and one of the parishioners were in the church. A bus with about 40 armed men who introduced themselves as a “private security company” drove up to the shrine. They broke into the territory and with the help of fittings, a grinder and the use of physical force captured the temple.

“The assault brigade suddenly drove into the village at about 9 a.m., broke the fence, smashed the windows in the church and captured the Orthodox shrine of Ryngach. The assault brigade was opposed by three people who this morning mowed the grass, cleaned the territory, and prepared for the temple holiday. This is the priest Father Seraphim, a parishioner and a woman – the head of the temple. The confrontation was short-lived, “- this is how the situation is described in the diocesan press service.

The attackers pushed the priest to the ground and kicked him, broke his phone.

The mentioned events were preceded by the illegal re-registration of the UOC parish in the OCU. Four years ago, representatives of the OCU registered their community in the village of Ryngach, but they could not build a temple, so they obviously decided to seize the church of the UOC religious community.

As can be seen on the video from the scene, all this happened with the participation of the clergy of the OCU, in particular the scandalous chaplain Roman Grischuk.