Head of OCU performs first religious service in seized UOC Cathedral in Khmelnytsky

on May 3, 2026, the head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko, held a religious service in the Holy Protection Cathedral of the city of Khmelnytsky, which was seized from the Khmelnytsky Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 2023. According to the official website of the OCU, the service was dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the “bishop’s ministry” of the head of the Khmelnytsky Diocese of the OCU, Simeon Shostatsky.

According to the press service of the OCU, “numerous bishops from different regions of the country, local clergy, defenders of the Motherland, chaplains and representatives of state authorities took part in a joint prayer with the Primate of the autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church.”

At the end of the religious events, Dumenko congratulated Shostatsky on the 30th anniversary of his ordination as a bishop. For his outstanding services to the OCU, the jubilee was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, the highest award of the OCU. He was also presented with an archpastoral crosier, a prosphora and flowers. In his response, Simeon Shostatsky thanked Dumenko for the joint prayer and presented him with an icon of the Holy Prophet John the Baptist.

As reported, on May 21, 2025, the city authorities of Khmelnytsky disrupted the visit of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine, which was timed to coincide with the 35th anniversary of the revival of the Khmelnytsky Diocese of the UOC. According to the announcement, on May 21-22, the Primate of the UOC was to be in Khmelnytsky, where he was to consecrate the local St. Nicholas Cathedral. However, on the initiative of local authorities, special equipment and crowd consisting of radicals and supporters of the OCU were driven to the church. The protesters blocked access to the church, which resulted in the cancellation of Metropolitan Onufriy’s visit.