OCU cleric announces his withdrawal from the organization, accusing the leadership of corruption and persecution

OCU cleric Oleksandr Halyna officially announced his withdrawal from the organization, citing his categorical disagreement with Epiphany Dumenko’s management methods and the revealed facts of financial fraud. The cleric accused the leadership of the structure of a biased attitude and that he was actually sent to the war zone as punishment for refusing to participate in criminal schemes.

Galyas’s conflict with the hierarchy began after he tried to stop embezzlement within the organization. In the town of Ichnia, Halysa discovered that the local clergy of the OCU were misappropriating donations collected by parishioners for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Later, in the village of Danyna in the Chernihiv region, the cleric faced an attempt to steal antiques: the activists of the structure offered him to replace the ancient icons of the historic church with modern copies for their further export. Another incident occurred in the village of Lypky, where a complete lack of transparency in the spending of funds allocated by the Obolon plant for the construction of a new church was revealed.

The cleric’s principled position led to his immediate removal from the staff, which was followed by a harsh reaction. According to Oleksandr Halas, immediately after his dismissal, police officers and the TCC arrived at his house and forced him to undergo a preliminary medical examination in a rude manner, threatening him with violence. As a result, the clergyman was sent to the 95th Assault Brigade. While on duty, he sustained a severe chest injury and is currently undergoing treatment in a hospital.

In his official statement addressed to Epiphany Dumenko, Galala emphasized that he no longer considers any disciplinary sanctions by the OCU leadership valid. This incident emphasizes the persistent tensions within the structure, where cases of using church resources for political purposes have also been recorded in the past.

Earlier, we reported that the notorious cleric of the OCU Yaroslav Kulik (Yasenets) publicly announced his withdrawal from this religious structure. The reason for his departure was his categorical disagreement with the course of the head of the organization, Epiphany Dumenko.