Conflict over Filaret's burial: UOC-KP accuses OCU of stealing Denisenko's body

A sharp conflict has erupted between the OCU and the UOC-KP over the right to conduct a funeral service for the deceased Filaret Denisenko. Representatives of the UOC-KP accused their opponents of «raiding» the body and violating the last will of the late head of the Kyiv Patriarchate, according to which he was to be buried in St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral in Kyiv.

The hierarch of the UOC-KP, Nikodim Kobzar, posted a video message on Facebook in which he stated that representatives of the OCU, having actually agreed with Filaret’s relatives, stole his body and transported it to St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery. According to Nikodim, this is a «direct outrage against the blessed memory» of their primate.

According to the position of the Kyiv Patriarchate, Filaret Denisenko signed a spiritual will in October in the presence of the bishops, where he clearly stated that the funeral service should be performed by the bishops of the UOC-KP in St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral. However, the OCU, led by Epiphany Dumenko, previously called this document a «fake» and insisted on holding the funeral service at St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral.

The situation is complicated by the fact that the building of St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral in Kyiv was surrounded by police, who prevented the entry of supporters of the UOC-KP who arrived to elect the locum tenens of the Patriarchal Throne. This incident was a new round of confrontation between religious structures, which has been ongoing since 2019 and has now moved into a phase of open struggle for the right to burial and the continuity of Filaret’s legacy.

As reported earlier, the UOC-KP appointed its new leader after the death of Filaret Denisenko. The new head of the structure is the head of the Sumy Diocese of the UOC-KP, Nikodym Kobzar, whose election was officially announced on March 21, 2026.