The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church—Kyiv Patriarchate admitted a representative of an “exotic” denomination into the organization

On October 1, 2026, the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church—Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), Nikodim Kobzar, issued Decree No. 92, pursuant to which Lev-Zinovy Kolesnik—who had previously styled himself “ ”"Archbishop of Kyiv-Pinsk of the Apostolic Greek Orthodox Church of Ukraine." This was reported on the official website patriarhat.info.

Along with Kolesnik, the parishes and the monastery of St. Zinovy the Holy Martyr, located in the city of Vynogradiv in the Zakarpattia Oblast, have come under the jurisdiction of the UOC-KP. According to the text of the decree, Kolesnik will report directly to Nikodim Kobzar.

A new decree has granted Lev Kolesnik the title “of Carpatho-Rus and Vynogradiv.” In addition to his duties as “Patriarchal Vicar,” he has been appointed Nikodim Kobzar’s representative in the United States and Canada, and has also assumed “spiritual care” for Belarusian Orthodox communities abroad. Furthermore, Kolesnik has been granted the authority of a priest-archimandrite of the Srebrozemny Monastery of St. Zinovy and appointed as an advisor to the head of the UOC-KP on matters of interfaith relations.

As a reminder, the UOC-KP had previously readmitted a cleric who had previously married an “abbess.”