In Cherkasy, city council transfers land under seized cathedral to OCU
According to media reports, the decision was made under pressure.
The Cherkasy City Council has approved the transfer of land plots beneath the Archangel Michael Cathedral in Cherkasy to the OCU. This was reported by the outlet 18000 on December 18, 2025.
The decision concerns three land plots with a total area of about 3.1 hectares, on which the cathedral, the UOC eparchial administration, and Sunday school facilities are located. These properties were seized by OCU supporters in October 2024.
According to 18000, 35 city council deputies voted in favor of the decision. At the same time, as recently as December 9, a draft resolution had been published on the city council’s website proposing to deny the OCU’s St. Michael’s Garrison Parish permanent use of the land due to the absence of title documents for part of the real estate.
Sources from the Dozor Telegram channel claim that the vote was “pushed through personally by Mayor-raider Bondarenko and the local leadership of the Security Service of Ukraine.”
“Intimidation by security forces became scarier for deputies than such an outright violation of the law,” Dozor commented.
As of the time of publication, there have been no official explanations for the change in the city council’s position following the December 9 decision.
As the UOJ previously reported, in Cherkasy, hospital staff transferred the Church of the Apostle Luke to the OCU.
