On August 24, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the bill banning the Russian church in Ukraine into law. Last year, Slidstvo.Info visited several illegally built churches of the Moscow Patriarchate in Kyiv, finding that city authorities were not responding to these illegal constructions. Has anything changed a year later and after the ban on religious organizations linked to Russia? Slidstvo.Info investigated.
WHAT DOES THE KYIV CITY STATE ADMINISTRATION SAY?
Days after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the decree banning the Russian church, Slidstvo.Info journalists sent a request to the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) listing illegally built churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) in Kyiv to find out if any action was planned.
In particular, among the churches of the UOC-MP were those that journalists “inspected” last year: The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the Podil neighborhood, the Church of All Holy Warriors in Peremoha Park, and the Church of the Volodymyr Icon of the Mother of God, located near the Artem plant.
In response to the journalists’ request, the KCSA stated that the Department of Land Resources had inspected the land plots where these churches are located.
“Appropriate inspection reports have been prepared and sent to the Dniprovskyi, Podilskyi, and Shevchenkivskyi district prosecutors’ offices, as well as to the Department of Territorial Control of the City of Kyiv, the executive body of the Kyiv City Council (Kyiv City State Administration) to take measures within their competence, including the demolition of illegally placed religious structures,” Slidstvo.Info was informed in the response.
In May 2023, Slidstvo.Info reported that the city authorities were not responding to these illegal constructions. The KCSA sent the inspection reports of illegal constructions a year later, on August 19 and 20, 2024. The inspection of religious structures took place in February and July-August 2024.
ILLEGALLY BUILT CHURCHES OPERATE AS USUAL
After receiving the response from the KCSA, Slidstvo.Info journalists decided to revisit the illegal churches of the UOC-MP to see if anything had changed a year later. In reality, nothing has changed. The listed illegally built churches are still standing and operating as usual.
Church of the Volodymyr Icon of the Mother of God
The Department of Land Resources informed journalists that in 2018, it prepared a draft decision to allocate the land plot and building of the Church of the Volodymyr Icon of the Mother of God to the religious community. However, this draft decision was rejected in January 2020, and the religious community was notified.
Despite this, this year, Slidstvo.Info found a woman selling candles and several parishioners at the church who were not happy to see journalists in the holy place. Thus, the church is still functioning. The people in the church could not answer whether the structure would be demolished.
Church of All Holy Warriors
Another illegally built church of the Moscow Patriarchate is the Church of All Holy Warriors in Peremoha Park. The Department of Land Resources claims that the Kyiv City Council did not make any decisions to grant permission for the development project and transfer of the land plot to any individual or legal entity.
Journalists visited the church during non-working hours, so they could not speak with the priest. A woman tending to the flowers on the church grounds confirmed that services are still being held.
Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
Last year, Slidstvo.Info reported on the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, built in the Podil neighborhood near the excavations of an ancient 12th-century church.
According to the Department’s response, the religious community of the UOC in honor of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra the Wonderworker, ordered a land management project without the permission of the Kyiv City Council, and the KCSA did not make any decisions to allocate the land plot on 3 Yurkivska Street.
This illegally built church of the Moscow Patriarchate is still operating. In the court registry, several rulings and decisions can be found in criminal case No. 910/2908/22, which was opened on April 28, 2022.
According to the court ruling, the Kyiv City Council filed a lawsuit against the Religious Community of the UOC and the State Registrar of the Municipal Enterprise “Registration Bureau” Hanna Henadiyivna Chuiko to cancel the decision on state registration and recognize the KCSA’s right to the immovable property — the building of preschool institution No. 600 in the Podilskyi district of Kyiv, located at the address: 3 Yurkivska Street, Kyiv.
This lawsuit was settled by the court’s decision issued on April 18, 2023.
Journalists could not speak with the priest of the church, but during one of the visits to the church, held a conversation with a man who showed an ID of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine issued to Serhiy Heorhiyovych Saranov.
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- Photo from Serhiy Saranov’s Facebook page
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- Photo from Serhiy Saranov’s Facebook page
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- Photo from Serhiy Saranov’s Facebook page
On the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Serhiy Saranov is listed as a public advisor to Servant of the People MP Oleh Seminskyi. Earlier, journalists analyzed the lawmaker’s declaration for 2022. Seminskyi declared an apartment in Austria, which he bought after the start of the full-scale invasion, a jet ski, a quad bike, a trike, a Toyota Camry car, 1 million euros in a bank in Liechtenstein, and 17 companies where he is the ultimate beneficiary, some of which are registered in Cyprus, Central America, and the British Virgin Islands.
During the conversation with a Slidstvo.Info journalist, Serhiy Saranov asserted that there would be no Russian Patriarchate here. Instead, according to him, negotiations are underway for the religious community to transition to the Jerusalem Patriarchate.
Regarding the illegality of the church’s construction, he claimed that “these are all old documents, now there is an appeal and an expert examination has been appointed,” and he sent the text of the appeal in one of the messengers, which journalists later found in the Unified Register of Court Decisions.
Indeed, in March 2024, a building and technical examination was appointed at the request of the religious community of the UOC, to be conducted by the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise. In May 2024, the terms of the examination were agreed upon and a deadline of more than 90 days was set. According to this ruling, the proceedings were suspended until the conclusion of the court examination was received.
Serhiy Saranov did not explain to journalists what his relationship with the church is and why he is so actively advocating for its activities. However, on his Facebook page, Slidstvo.Info found several photos of him in church attire, apparently at services in the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
