The Nazis forcibly seized the temple in the village of Ptichye, despite the court decision
On April 2, the Holy Dormition parish of the UOC-MP obtained a court decision to lift the seizure of its church in the village of Ptichye, Rivne region. Since November 2014, this temple has been subject to raider attacks by supporters of the schismatic “Kyiv Patriarchate”.
“Filaret members” and militants from the “Right Sector” have repeatedly attempted a violent takeover, accompanied by desecration of the shrine and blasphemy, beatings of priests and parishioners, threats and insults.
Back on September 2, 2015, by a decision of the Economic Court of the Kyiv Region, it was confirmed that the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Ptichye belongs to the community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Kapeshniks did not agree with the verdict and filed a complaint with the Kiev Court of Appeal. However, on December 2 of the same year, the new court also rejected the raiders' claims.
However, the Nazi “activists” decided to go all the way. They demanded that the Rivne local authorities file a lawsuit to cancel all previous court decisions. The legal challenges were accompanied by more gang attacks. In this regard, since December 18, 2015, priests and believers have been constantly present in the temple in order to prevent the seizure of the shrine at any time, since the threat of such a seizure remained constant.
On January 16, 2016, by order of the Rivne City Court, the temple was temporarily sealed and closed for worship - until the issue of its ownership was finally resolved.
And finally, on April 2, 2018, the Dubensky District Court of the Rivne region lifted the arrest, thereby effectively recognizing the temple as the property of the UOC-MP. The court decision read: “Cancel the temporary arrest on the church at the address. Lvovskaya, 27a, p. Ptichya, Dubensky district, Rivne region, which belongs to the religious community of the Holy Dormition parish of the Rivne diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church."
This sparked a new wave of aggression from the "Filaret" raiders. Late in the evening, the KAPEshniki seized the church by force, reports the Union of Orthodox Christian Journalists . They were unfazed even by the presence of dozens of people who had come to defend their holy site. Supported by thugs from the Aidar and Azov battalions, a group of about 30 schismatics attacked the church where the parishioners had locked themselves in, smashing windows and sawing off the locks with grinders. They then stormed inside and drove the worshippers out, threatening them with machine guns. One woman was injured in the attack.
The police, who arrived on call, habitually remained inactive, indifferently watching what was happening. The Filaretites said that they had prepared for a long siege. The visiting head of the Dubensky District Council was indifferent to the act of vandalism.
A representative of the Kyiv Patriarchate, a certain Igor Zagrebelny, said the building belongs to his community, and no court rulings matter to him. "We don't care how long the church is closed: eight months or eight years. This is our church. The Kyiv Patriarchate has not built a new one here, and has no plans to do so," the schismatic declared.
Now the parishioners are awaiting the arrival of Bishop Dubensky and the vicar of the Rivne diocese, Pimen.
Armed bandits locked themselves in the temple from the inside. They also brought food packages with them, preparing for a long standoff.
English version :: Read in English: The Nazis forcibly seized a church in the village of Ptichye, despite a court ruling.