January 27, 2024, in the village of Pechesskoye in Khmelnytsky region, supporters of the OCU seized the local Holy Protection Church, which belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. About it reports the press service of the Khmelnitsky diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

“The formal reason for the seizure of the Holy Protection Church of the village. Pechesskoe was a meeting held on October 27 last year under the guise of a parish meeting of the religious community with the purpose of transferring the parish to the OCU. At that time, 30-40 people showed up at the meeting, for whom no one even checked their religion and membership in the religious community. However, all of them were registered in advance as members of the religious community. Representatives of the territorial community, who had no relation to the religious community, decided to change the subordination of the parish in favor of the OCU. In the lists submitted to the Khmelnytsky Regional Administration, 250 people were listed. The actual members of the religious community did not change subordination in organizational and canonical matters, but remain in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (governing center – Kiev)“, – the diocese said.

In addition, during the seizure of the Holy Protection Church, a representative of the local diocese of the OCU, Mykola Khomyak, got into a verbal altercation with the faithful of the UOC. One of the parishioners, the “superior” of the OCU said the following verbatim: “Who are you, such a bad ass? Get out of here! Damn you, bitch!”.

As a result of the conflict, the OCU supporters, led by the “dean” Mykola Khomyak, took possession of the church premises in the absence of police officers. At the same time, the activist activists forcibly pushed its rector Archpriest Mykhailo Furman and Archpriest Vitaliy Duntz, dean of Krasilov district of Khmelnytskyi diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, out of the premises.