In Chernivtsi, believers secure the release of a cleric of the UOC Bancheny Monastery detained by the TRC

on April 27, 2026, in Chernivtsi, after a mass protest by believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Archimandrite Sergius, a monk of the Bancheny Monastery, who had previously been detained by employees of the territorial recruitment center (TRC), was released. The clergyman was released due to the intervention of the UOC hierarch, Metropolitan Longin (Zhar) of Bancheny. The bishop brought the archimandrite’s foster son, who is under care due to a severe form of disability, to the walls of the TRC.

As reported on the official Facebook page of the Bencheny Monastery of the UOC, the clergyman, who is the official guardian of disabled children, was forcibly taken away by military commissariats. This incident caused a wide public outcry in the region: hundreds of believers, led by Metropolitan Longin, gathered at the gates of the TRC. The participants of the spontaneous rally demanded the immediate release of the clergyman, chanting the slogan: “Freedom to the guardians!”

As a result of the community’s decisive actions, representatives of the TRC were forced to release Archimandrite Sergius a short time after the protest began.

Earlier, we reported that a case of forced mobilization of a representative of the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was recorded in the Volyn region. Employees of the territorial recruitment center (TRC) detained Father Vlasiy, a resident of the St. Nicholas Monastery in Mileti, who was sent to a training center for military service after operational procedures.