Mayor and Police Lead Raider Seizure of St. Andrew’s Church in Cherkasy

Despite resistance from parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, on May 6, 2025, St. Andrew’s Church in Cherkasy was seized by raiders from the OCU (Orthodox Church of Ukraine). Notably, this takeover was effectively led by Cherkasy Mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko. The police who arrived at the scene not only failed to stop the illegal actions of masked mercenaries but also assisted in expelling all parishioners from the church grounds, afterward barring the faithful from entering the church.

Metropolitan Feodosiy of Cherkasy, who issued an emergency statement regarding the attempted seizure, arrived at the scene and managed to break through police cordons to reach the church. However, he was met by Cherkasy Mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko and Secretary of the Cherkasy City Council Yuriy Trenkin. According to the metropolitan, state authorities had no legal grounds to forcibly enter the territory of St. Andrew’s Church. The clergyman proposed resolving the dispute legally—through the courts—but was met with a direct refusal.

«We did everything we could. We spoke at length with Cherkasy Mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko and City Council Secretary Yuriy Trenkin. We explained that, by law, they cannot take our church from us. We had lawyers and documents with us… Yet they simply pushed us out of the church. The head of Cherkasy police even forbade us from entering the holy site. Now the church is guarded by police carrying out an unlawful order, violating both the Constitution and the Law on National Police,» the bishop stated.

In response to Mayor Bondarenko’s accusations—who is effectively the organizer of these seizures of Orthodox churches—that UOC priests allegedly do not conduct services in Ukrainian, Metropolitan Feodosiy replied that worship in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is conducted, as required by all church canons, in Church Slavonic.

«Brothers and sisters, we prayed as our grandfathers, fathers, and great-grandfathers did. We pray and will continue to pray in Church Slavonic. There is no need to force us to pray the way you want. Finish seminary, join the priesthood, and then we can speak as equals: you with one voice, and I with one. But for now, secular men in suits will not dictate to us, the clergy, in what language we should pray. We will pray in Church Slavonic. We will pray on our own land.»

Incidentally, Cherkasy Mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko—like many Ukrainian officials—is adept at quickly «changing his tune» to suit the political winds. Previously, he had shown great reverence for Metropolitan Feodosiy and was even awarded a church honor by the bishop for supporting the canonical church. As the metropolitan noted, in the past, cathedrals were seized by «outright bandits—with clubs, pepper spray, and weapons.»

«Today, there was no mob—only the police. Yet it was they who pushed the faithful out of the church and are not letting them back in. These are representatives of the state. We do not intend to fight them, but when the authorities themselves expel believers, it shows that the state is waging war against its own Church,» declared the metropolitan.

According to him, when Ukraine returns to the rule of law, peace and freedom will be restored in the country.

«We will not fight the state through its security forces. The Lord will judge!» said Metropolitan Feodosiy.