The de facto legalization of the raider takeover of the Cathedral of the Descent of the Holy Spirit of the UOC
A judge in the Chernivtsi Regional Court upheld the claim of a raider group affiliated with the OCU and ordered the religious community of the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Chernivtsi to allow the criminals into the church.
During the hearing, the judge repeatedly rejected the legality of the community's re-registration in favor of the OCU.
🔴On January 21, 2026, the Commercial Court of Chernivtsi Oblast issued a ruling in case No. 926/3233/25, upholding the claim of the fictitious OCU community "Religious Community of the Parish of the Cathedral of the Descent of the Holy Spirit of the Chernivtsi-Bukovina Diocese of the OCU" against the Administration of the Chernivtsi-Bukovina Diocese of the UOC.
According to the court's decision, the UOC is obligated to vacate the cathedral, hotel, and boiler house located at 85 Holovna Street, Chernivtsi. The property must be transferred to the OCU with the signing of a corresponding acceptance certificate.
According to the OCU, the UOC allegedly occupies and uses the buildings without legal grounds, thus creating obstacles for the "rightful owner."
In support of its claims, the plaintiff presented extracts from the State Register of Property Rights to Real Estate dated September 23, 2025, confirming the OCU community's ownership of the properties.
The UOC challenged the legality of the re-registration of the property rights, citing obvious fraud: changes to the State Register were made before the plaintiff's official registration as a legal entity within the OCU. The UOC also announced that a criminal complaint has been filed for abuse of office in making changes to the register.
Representatives of the UOC twice petitioned to suspend proceedings in the case, due to the consideration of an administrative case to invalidate the state registration and a criminal case. However, the court rejected both petitions.
The court stated that a "general meeting of the religious community" was held on February 16, 2025, at which a decision was made to change the canonical affiliation from the UOC to the OCU and change the organization's name.
On February 20, 2025, the community's new charter was registered by order of the head of the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration.
The court rejected the UOC's arguments regarding the illegality of the registration actions, noting that the legality of the state registrar's actions is not the subject of this case. The changes made to the register are valid and have not been repealed in accordance with the procedure established by law.
Regarding the date of registration of the property ownership, the court stated that these circumstances have no legal significance for the resolution of the dispute. The "ownership" of the OCU is confirmed by current extracts from the State Register.
The UOC was ordered to pay the plaintiff UAH 4,844.80 in court fees.
The decision may be appealed to the Western Commercial Court of Appeal within 20 days. The full text of the decision was drafted and signed on January 26, 2026, by Judge Nikolai Gurin.
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