Metropolitan Platon of Feodosia and Kerch Has Passed Away

On November 6, 2026, at the age of 86, one of the oldest hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church—Metropolitan Platon of Theodosius and Kerch (born Vladimir Petrovich Udovenko)—passed away. The Information and Education Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church announced the archpastor’s passing.

Vladimir Udovenko was born on November 17, 1940, in the Luhansk region. He began his spiritual journey in 1957 as a novice at the Odessa Dormition Monastery. After receiving his education at the Kiev, Odessa, and Leningrad Theological Academies, he dedicated his life to serving the Church. In 1971, he took monastic vows, and in 1973, he was consecrated as Bishop of Argentina and South America.

For decades, Bishop Platon held key church positions, including serving as Patriarchal Exarch in Central and South America, heading the Sverdlovsk, Yaroslavl, and Rostov dioceses, and served as deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR). In 2012, Metropolitan Platon returned to the fold of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and, by decision of the Synod, became head of the newly formed Diocese of Theodosius.

May the memory of the newly departed Metropolitan Platon be blessed.