Court in Rivne, Ukraine, rules for religious community in dispute over 1756 church’s ownership

The oldest temple in the city, the Church of the Assumption at 113 Shevchenka Street in Rivne, has become the center of a court dispute over its ownership. According to the source, the church was built at the expense of parishioners in 1756. The building date is preserved on the left of the western door, and the temple stands on a stone foundation. The city’s cultural management reported that no metal was used in its construction.

The church’s history includes a Soviet-era plan to demolish it and build a textile dormitory on the site. The source reports that local residents opposed the destruction, that the dormitory was eventually built, and that the temple was preserved. In 1979, the church was given a new chapter in its public history when a guard treaty was signed between the relevant state authority and the religious council, and the religious community was handed the church for free use for services.

The current dispute began with municipal decisions. In October 2023, the Rivne City Council approved a list of real property of the territorial community under decision No. 86, which included the church. In December 2024, the council registered the temple as communal property. The parish side maintained that the church is a monument of national importance architecture and that any transfer of it should follow a special procedure. The court’s case records include a response from a ministry dated December 4, 2025, which stated that the authorities had not found a request for the church’s transfer to communal property.

The Rivne City Council rejected the lawsuit and argued that the building belonged to the community. It cited documents including an executive committee decision of December 14, 1983, concerning the registration of buildings, and noted that by March 1993 the church had been placed on the balance sheet of Housing Office No. 2. The court, however, found that these documents were not sufficient to confirm the council’s ownership rights.

In reaching its decision, the court examined not only the council’s records but also the history of the temple’s use. The source reports that the court weighed these competing accounts, a step reflected in the principle of hearing the full account before judgment (Proverbs 18:17). The court also reviewed a 1991 decision by the Rivne regional council that provided for cult buildings to be transferred to religious communities for free use.

The court reversed the council’s decisions that had established the church as public property and granted the lawsuit of the religious community, which is affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate, recognizing its right to the church. The full text of the ruling was issued on August 25, 2026, by the court of the province. The court estimated that the community had for a long time actually used the temple for its purpose, conducting worship and maintaining the building.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Ukrainian)