Head of OCU accuses UOC of “hostility to its compatriots”

On June 19, 2025, two days after an unsuccessful attempt by OCU supporters to seize the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Chernivtsi, the head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko, published “reflections” in which he accused the clergy and believers of the UOC of “hostility to their compatriots.” Dumenko believes that the UOC manipulates with “half-truths”, “hiding or distorting the truth”. He wrote about this on his Facebook account.

“Unfortunately, there are still supporters of the murderous ideology of the Russian World and the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine. Unfortunately, fed with a pernicious and poisonous “cocktail” of half-truths, they consider their compatriots, their brothers and sisters in Christ, to be enemies. Being in the grip of falsehood, they are afraid to admit that they are wrong, and therefore they cover this weakness with aggression — insults, slander, accusations, threats. What have the supporters of the Russian Patriarchate in Ukraine not invented, how skillfully they manipulate half-truths, hiding or distorting the truth!”, — Dumenko wrote.

Earlier it was reported that the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience reported on the number of religious organizations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the OCU in the country. According to the SES, the state managed to re-register 2022 religious communities of the UOC in favor of the OCU. At the same time, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church still has a numerical advantage in the country.