Church property evacuated from the PCU temple in Kostiantynivka.

Forced evacuation of church property from the temple in Kostiantynivka

In the city of Kostiantynivka, a forced evacuation of church property is taking place from the Holy-Svetlitsky temple, belonging to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). This is reported by 'Glavkom', referring to a local telegram channel.

Recently, bells that are considered some of the best in the entire territory of Donetsk region were removed from this temple. These bells were produced at the Donetsk Metallurgical Plant before the city was occupied, and their removal is a similar event.

The conflict surrounding the Holy-Svetlitsky temple has been ongoing for a long time. In 2021, the Supreme Court of Ukraine ruled that the temple in Kostiantynivka remains under the jurisdiction of the OCU. The court emphasized that changing the confessional affiliation of the parish is an internal matter of the religious community, which cannot be challenged by the ruling archbishop.

This lawsuit was filed after the Moscow Patriarchate lost a similar case in the Supreme Court in 2018.

It should be noted that hostilities in eastern Ukraine continue, and the enemy is actively operating. The commander of the 'Achilles' regiment reported that the Russian Federation is increasing assault operations, using highly maneuverable equipment, as the armored vehicles previously used by the enemy are exhausted.