“This is not God's punishment!”: Hierarch of the OCU comments on the locust invasion in the Zaporizhzhia region

The head of the Zaporizhzhia Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Fotiy Davydenko, commented on the locust invasion in the Zaporizhzhia region, which has been observed since July 11 and is seriously disturbing local residents. Although Davydenko acknowledges that external signs often indicate a decline in the moral state of society, in this case, it is not worth thinking in an apocalyptic paradigm. In his opinion, the Russian-Ukrainian war is to blame for the natural anomaly described. He spoke about this in a comment to the publication “Suspilne.Zaporizhzhia.”

“At present, this should not be perceived in this way. However, it must be said that disturbances in the spiritual world have an impact on the material world. The phenomena we are observing today are disturbances in our country’s ecosystem caused by the war,” – Fotiy notes.

He also added that parallels should not be drawn with the Apocalypse described in the book. Davydenko justifies this by saying that cataclysms have also occurred in the world before, but the end of humanity has not come.

“The Lord gave signs that there would be diseases and great wars at the end of the world. But let’s take history, the Middle Ages, there was also the plague, which took many lives, and constant wars. But that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. It (in the book of Revelation, ed.) is so veiled in imagery that an accurate interpretation of this book is impossible. Therefore, we do not know them for sure. We must live according to the commandments of the Lord and follow his instructions,” – added the representative of the OCU.

Recall that on July 5, 2025, on the territory of the Volyn Regional Territorial Center for the Recruitment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (TRC), a temple was “consecrated” in honor of Prince Vladimir, Equal to the Apostles. The religious ceremonies were performed by the odious head of the Volyn Diocese of the OCU, Mykhailo Zinkevych. Together with Zinkevych, employees of the TCC and chaplains of the OCU “prayed” in the temple.