“Dependent on the Kremlin regime”: Dumenko criticized Local Churches that did not recognize the OCU

The head of the OCU, Epiphanius Dumenko, criticized the Local Orthodox Churches that did not join the Ukrainian schism. Dumenko claims that the situation is as such because some Local Churches have not yet made up their minds and are waiting for the outcome of the Russian-Ukrainian war, while others “depend on the Kremlin regime.” He stated this in a report read out at a meeting of OCU hierarchs.

«A number of Local Orthodox Churches have followed the Tomos and fully entered into communion with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. A number of Churches have taken a more wait-and-see position, which seems to be prompted by their own uncertainty about the expected consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war. A number of Churches that have particularly close relations with the Moscow Patriarchate and are linked to countries that are wholly or partly politically dependent on the Kremlin regime in violation of canonical order and historical truth, continue to support the Russian version of church administration and unjustly claim that the structures of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine are allegedly truly “canonical,” refusing to recognize the Orthodox Church of Ukraine,» — Dumenko said.

However, according to Dumenko, most of the Local Churches still remain in communion with the OCU, since they have not severed ties with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who regularly concelebrates with representatives of the Ukrainian schism. The head of the OCU claims that the fact that his name is mentioned during services in other Local Churches shows that the OCU is already recognized by all the others, even if not officially.

«Although not directly, but through their communication with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and Local Churches that are in full communion with the OCU, even they are in communion with our Local Church. We consider the concelebration of the hierarchs of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine with the hierarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church during the Divine Liturgy at the Monastery of the Life-Giving Spring in Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) on May 19, 2024, led by His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. We also positively assess the commemoration of the name of the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the Diptych on October 26, 2024, during the conciliar Divine Liturgy, which was led in Bucharest (Romania) in concelebration with the hierarchs of the Churches of Cyprus and Romania, led by His Beatitude Archbishop George of Cyprus, as well as the mention of the name of the Primate of the OCU in the Diptych on June 15, 2025, on All Saints’ Sunday in Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) during the concelebration of the Divine Liturgy by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the newly elected Archbishop John of Albania,» — added the head of the OCU.