An OCU lobbyist expressed concern over the visit of hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to Corfu

Alexander Sagan, a religious studies scholar and lobbyist for the OCU, criticized the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC, accusing the Church’s leadership of holding joint events with representatives of organizations associated with the “Russian World” ideology. The statement was prompted by the participation of seven bishops of the UOC in the consecration of a church and a monastery on the island of Corfu in Greece.

In addition to the hierarchs of the UOC and bishops of the Church of Greece, monks from the Cell of St. Modestus on Mount Athos also took part in the consecration ceremony. Alexander Sagan emphasizes that this cell is “one of the most well-known centers for spreading pro-Russian propaganda in Greece, where the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine is openly supported, and Western countries are called ‘servants of the Antichrist.’”

The religious scholar points to the close historical ties between the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kyiv and All Ukraine, and the late Hieromonk Avraam Orlov, the former head of the cell, which date back to the Soviet period at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. According to Sagan, “funding for projects in Corfu may be channeled through a network of Russian oligarchs close to the Kremlin, which calls into question the true objectives of the UOC hierarchs’ overseas visits during a full-scale war.”

As a reminder, on October 31, 2026, Metropolitan Nektarios of Corfu, Paxos, and Diapondia presided over the grand opening of a new monastic house in the city of Corfu. The establishment of the monastery was made possible through the initiative and with the blessing of Metropolitan Onufry of Kyiv and All Ukraine, as well as with the support of Metropolitan Agathangelos of Odessa.