Dumenko: The Russian Orthodox Church will eventually be forced to recognize the autocephaly of the OCU

On June 25, 2026, a discussion titled “Faith, War, and Responsibility: Socio-Ethical Perspectives of Ukrainian Christian Leaders” took place in Berlin at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Academy. The event was attended by the head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko, who discussed with experts “the issue of religious resistance to Russian aggression and the prospects for future interchurch dialogue,” according to the Orthodox Times .

Speaking about the future, the head of the OCU noted that after Ukraine’s victory and “the possible collapse of the current Kremlin regime , dialogue with Russia will only be possible once the aggressor country acknowledges its defeat.” According to Epiphanius, as Kremlin control weakens, the Russian Orthodox Church will eventually be forced to recognize the autocephaly of the OCU, “since this is required by canonical church order and the interests of Orthodoxy.”

The head of the Ukrainian schismatics added that the OCU remains open to “constructive dialogue” with representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church; however, at present, all official calls for such communication are being ignored. According to Dumenko, more than 2,000 parishes have “voluntarily joined the OCU,” which, he said, is “an irreversible process on the path to full ecclesiastical unity in the country.”

As a reminder, we previously reported that Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople had been actively attempting to recognize Ukrainian schismatic structures and weaken the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church as early as 2008, ten years before the official granting of the Tomos.