Members of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) on June 2 took control of the temple of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in the urban-type settlement of Medzhybizh, Khmelnitsky region. This is reported by the official Telegram channel of the UOC.

The seizure was carried out by businessman Mikhail Blonsky and a deputy of the Khmelnitsky district council
Alexander Chernievich. “Without any permission, these people broke the doors of the temple and changed the locks,” the report says. At the same time, Chernievich "resorted to brute physical force directly to the believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church." He also prevented one of the parishioners from filming what was happening and snatched the phone from her hands, the UOC claims.

The police present at the scene did not intervene in what was happening, despite requests.

At the end of March 2023, the religious community of the Nicholas Church of Medzhybizh of the Khmelnitsky diocese of the UOC held a general meeting, at which it was decided to remain under the jurisdiction of the UOC. This decision is recorded in the minutes. In connection with the offenses committed, the rector and members of the religious community of the temple appealed to the police with a request to protect their constitutional rights and stop the arbitrariness of the supporters of the OCU.

Earlier it was reported that in the Chernivtsi region of Ukraine, the priest of the schismatic OCU made an attempt to open the temple of the UOC. The schismatic armed with a grinder and began to cut the locks of the temple of the archangels Michael and Gabriel in the village of Staraya Zhadova.