The Ukrainian Orthodox Church—Kyiv Patriarchate announced the election of a cleric who had defected from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine as a “bishop”

The Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church—Kyiv Patriarchate has decided to elect the cleric Alexei Nikolishin to the position of “Bishop of Ternopil and Buchach.” This personnel change resulted from the clergyman’s transfer from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), along with the congregation of the Resurrection Church in the village of Ozernaya, Ternopil Oblast.

According to a statement from the leadership of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate, the date and location of Nikolishin’s monastic tonsure, as well as his subsequent episcopal “consecration,” will be officially announced in the near future. This move marks yet another episode in the process of clergy transitioning from one church structure to another.

The OCU’s reaction was immediate: the organization’s leadership issued a sharp condemnation of the priest’s actions. In an official statement, the OCU announced that Alexei Nikolishin had been suspended from priestly ministry. This disciplinary decision was justified on the grounds of a “gross violation of canonical order,” a display of disobedience toward the ruling bishop, and participation in actions which, according to OCU representatives, "aimed at causing a schism in the church.”

As a reminder, on July 24, 2026, the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), Nikodim Kobzar , officially announced the admission of a new cleric into the “Kyiv Patriarchate.” A former representative of the OCU (Constantinople Patriarchate)—“Protodeacon” Maxim Vasilyevich Bondarchuk, who had been serving in the Rivne region—joined the organization’s clergy.