Pereiaslav museum gives OCU access to seized UOC cathedral

Pereiaslav Reserve grants OCU use of cathedral seized from UOC. Photo: Svitlana Mykytchenko’s Facebook

The management of the Pereiaslav Reserve has signed an agreement granting OCU representatives use of St Michael’s Cathedral, which officials and police forcibly took from monks and believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Acting director of the state reserve Maryna Navalna and OCU “bishop” Oleksandr Drabynko signed an agreement granting free access to the cathedral for “worship services.” Under the agreement, OCU events at the cathedral will be held at designated times according to a schedule agreed in advance. The document was signed on August 24, 2026.

The agreement followed the forcible seizure of the ancient UOC monastery. Museum staff and court enforcement officers, backed by special police units, stormed the monastery on May 11, 2026, using physical force against believers. Reserve employees then broke the locks and conducted an inventory of the monastery’s property, even entering the monks’ private cells.

As the UOJ reported, the UOC had won an appeal in the case involving the Transfiguration Monastery in Kniazhychi.

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