In Bukovina, parishioners of the UOC-MP are urging the US government to prevent the church's transition to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

Faithful of the UOC-MP from the village of Pidzakharichi in the Chernivtsi region are urging the United States to prevent the local community from transitioning to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. This is stated in a video appeal by parishioners, published on Facebook. In the brief clip, villagers ask the U.S. government, Vice President Jay D. Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to stop the transition of the St. Basil's Church to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

According to an unnamed man reading the appeal, at a meeting of the religious community, 61 "unknown" individuals voted in favor of the transition to the OCU. He also claims that 172 parishioners were allegedly not allowed to vote. The man in the video further states that there are plans to seize the church.

“Fake documents are being prepared for our church. And then there will be a violent assault with rebar, grinders, and militants to shed Christian blood and seize our Orthodox church [...] An assault on the church is being prepared. Children and women may be harmed; they could be hit with rebar on the head, as it happened in Lenkytsia, Vaslovytsi, Zadubrivka, and Mali Kuchurov,” the statement reads.

The unnamed parishioner stated that the villagers reported the alleged fake voting to the police, local authorities, and the Chernivtsi OVA. However, the police supposedly refuse to take action and “only protect the militants in masks.” Therefore, the UOC-MP parishioners decided to appeal to the U.S. government.

“We have reached out to the U.S. government, to Vice President Jay Vance, who is young, energetic, and cares about the observance of religious freedoms and Christian values. We believe he will respond to our appeal [...] Our fellow Bukovinians living in the U.S. are preparing a letter to Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, about the blatant discrimination and humiliation of Orthodox Christians in Pidzakharichi and in Ukraine in general,” the video appeal states.

A UOC-MP parishioner also claims that in churches that have transitioned to the OCU, the sanctity is not respected, and thus they must protect it. The man cited an example allegedly occurring in one of the villages: “We all saw how the OCU seized the church in the village of Krekhayevo, and they use holy books, the Word of God, to wipe themselves in the toilet near the church.”

As reported by ZAXID.NET, on January 26, religious communities in the villages of Pidzakharichi and Dubivtsi voted to transition from the UOC-MP to the OCU. In the meeting in Pidzakharichi, 65 parishioners attended, of which 61 voted "for" the transition. In Dubivtsi, 115 people attended the meeting, and they unanimously decided to leave the jurisdiction of the UOC-MP and join the OCU.