UOC-KP hierarch reports threats of physical violence and accuses OCU leadership of them

The head of the Sumy Diocese of the UOC-KP, Nikodim Kobzar, addressed the leadership of law enforcement agencies in Sumy region with a statement about threats of physical violence and possible damage to church property, blaming the OCU leadership for potential incidents.

The open letter was addressed to the head of the Sumy Regional Prosecutor’s Office, as well as to the heads of the regional departments of the SBU and the National Police. According to the telegram channel “For the Ukrainian Church,” in his appeal, Kobzar asks law enforcement officers to respond to the situation.

The statement says that Kobzar has repeatedly received threats. “Even today, caring people have warned me that Metropolitan Yevstratiy Zoria of the OCU will soon visit Sumy to organize provocations and “physically influence me,” the letter says. Nikodim Kobzar emphasized that in case of damage to his health or church property, he would blame representatives of the OCU leadership.

According to the hierarch of the UOC-KP, these threats are a consequence of his active position “to defend the rights of believers to be parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate.” He also linked this to counteracting what he called the “raider seizure” of St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral and the complex of buildings of the “Kyiv Patriarchate” in the capital.

As reported, on November 5, 2025, the head of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko and the leader of the UOC-KP Filaret Denisenko met in Kyiv . During the conversation, the hierarchs discussed Filaret’s many years of ministry and the importance of unity, concluding the conversation with a joint prayer for the victory of Ukraine.