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.
Read also
U.S. House of Representatives passes ban on sex-change surgeries for minors
The lower house of Congress supported an initiative limiting medical interventions that could have irreversible consequences for the health of minors.
Armenian Church to appeal to international bodies over government pressure
The decision was made by the Supreme Spiritual Council in Etchmiadzin against the backdrop of criminal cases, pressure on the clergy, and the state's attempts to interfere in church life.
Pashinyan's supporters attempt to storm Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Armenia
The confrontation around the Armenian Apostolic Church intensified after rebellious hierarchs called for the Catholicos's resignation and attempted to exert forceful pressure in Etchmiadzin.
Persecuted community of Maliatyntsi celebrates first patronal feast after seizure
In Bukovyna, the faithful of the St. Nicholas community in the village of Maliatyntsi celebrated the Feast Day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra in Lycia for the first time after the church seizure.
European authorities downplay scale of Christian persecution, report says
Human rights defenders reported an increase in attacks on believers in the EU and pointed out that official statistics do not reflect the real level of anti-Christian hostility.
Mukachevo Eparchy bishops congratulate orphaned children on St Nicholas Day
Metropolitan Theodore and Bishop Hilarion visited the “New Family” children’s shelter in Uzhhorod.