Chyhyryn. A group of uniformed militants and serial raider Zasansky seized a UOC church

Church of the Kazan Icon of the Holy Mother of God of the UOC

Address: Cherkasy Oblast, Chyhyryn, Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street, 27

The Kazan Church of the UOC in Chyhyryn has become the latest victim of the criminal group led by OCU cleric Nazariy Zasansky.

The church was seized by a group of militants in military uniform.

🔴On February 21, 2025, the religious community of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Holy Mother of God of the UOC was illegally re-registered.

The state registrar falsely reported the alleged change of religious affiliation of the community in favor of the OCU.

The state registrar's crime was preceded by illegal gatherings of people posing as a parish meeting of the church. According to sources, the group of people brought in declared themselves a church community and voted to convert to the OCU.

🔴On December 22, 2025, around midday, the Church of Our Lady of Kazan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, whose rector is Archpriest Anatoly Prikotenko, dean of the Chyhyryn district, was seized.

According to believers, no one was in the church at the time of the crime. The raiders cut the locks with a grinder and gained access to the building.

The seizure was led by Nazariy Zasansky, who identifies himself as a chaplain of the OCU. He arrived in Chyhyryn with a group of approximately 50 men in military uniform, who, according to eyewitnesses, identified themselves as employees of the Kazan Church of the Mother of God.