Tochytskyi dismissed from Minister of Culture post

Tochytskyi. Photo: Left Bank

On 15 July 2025, the government dismissed Mykola Tochytskyi from his post as Minister of Culture. This was reported by MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak.

“So, the ‘Government of second choices’ or ‘A big shuffle-and-a-bit-of-unification,’” Zhelezniak wrote about the large-scale changes in the government. According to him, Tochytskyi is “definitely losing the post” and will be appointed to one of the diplomatic positions.

Mykola Tochytskyi served as minister for less than a year. He was appointed on 5 September 2024. During this time he became known for several controversial actions and statements.

As previously reported by the UOJ, in October 2024, the minister met with Dumenko and Zoria to discuss combating the “Russian World.” Under Tochytskyi, a scandalous cooking show was held in the Lavra, stirring Ukrainian society, along with a performance by a folk dance troupe.

By Tochytskyi’s order, the Ministry of Culture created a commission of anthropologists and veterinarians to study the relics of the Venerable Fathers of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. When dismissing Maksym Ostapenko from the post of director of the Lavra reserve, Tochytskyi declared that Ostapenko had been weak in fighting the “Moscow spirit.”

Read also

Greek priest: Sad to see Orthodox Christians fighting each other in Ukraine

Fr. Georgios Katsaounis recalled the historical ties between the Russian and Ukrainian peoples and criticized the Greek Prime Minister’s statement about a “war with Russia.”

Anglican Archbishop: Ban on women's priesthood in RCC is an injustice

After her visit to the pontiff, Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally touched on the topic of women's priesthood in the RCC in an interview and called the ban on it "an injustice."

Greek priest on Pope's visit to Phanar: faith must not be sold

Archpriest Georgios Katsaounis warned that in the modern ecumenical dialogue there are serious risks of diluting Orthodox dogmas.

Greek priest: The principle of papal supremacy in Catholicism is a disease

Archpriest Georgios Katsaounis stated that Western Christianity suffers from the principle of one person's supremacy, and called this a spiritual illness.

In Egypt, Coptic blogger sentenced to 5 years for videos about Christianity

A Coptic blogger was sentenced to five years in prison with hard labor under a blasphemy law for publishing a video about Christianity.

Patriarchate of Georgia denies ROC influence on election of patriarch

Archpriest Andria Jagmaidze stated that rumors about pressure from the Russian Orthodox Church on Patriarch Ilia regarding the selection of a locum tenens are false.