TRC abducts UOC priest in Odesa Region and holds him for four days

Archpriest Oleksandr Moskovchuk. Photo: Odesa Eparchy

On June 10, 2025, officers of the Territorial Recruitment Center (TRC) detained Archpriest Oleksandr Moskovchuk, rector of the Holy Trinity Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Troyandove, located in the Dobroslav community of Odesa District. The incident was reported by the press service of the Odesa Eparchy.

“Despite his age, poor health, the canonical prohibition on bearing arms, and the legal grounds preventing his mobilization, the clergyman has been – and continues to be – pressured to sign a military service contract. He is being subjected to threats and psychological coercion, and transported between various TRC offices and military units across Odesa Region and Ukraine,” the statement reads.

According to the eparchy, Fr. Oleksandr has now been held for four days in TRC barracks – unjustly deprived of the ability to see his family and fulfill his pastoral duties.

The clergyman is receiving qualified legal assistance.

“We ask everyone to lift up fervent prayers for Archpriest Oleksandr, his family, and his spiritual children,” the Odesa Eparchy urged.

As previously reported by the UOJ, the Khmelnytskyi TRC released a UOC protodeacon who had been unlawfully detained.

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