Epifaniy Dumenko to face legal action for slander against UOC hierarch

The court has initiated proceedings against the head of the OCU. Photo: Facebook page of the Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC

In August 2025, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv initiated proceedings in a civil case against the head of the OCU, Epifaniy Dumenko. The lawsuit was filed by Metropolitan Theodosiy (Snigirev) of Cherkasy and Kaniv of the UOC, who seeks protection of his honor and dignity. This was reported on the Facebook page of the Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC.

In his complaint, Metropolitan Theodosius points to a TSN television broadcast where Epifaniy Dumenko stated: "Here we see, even in the example of Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy, who does everything for this purpose: openly preaching this ideology, speaking out against the Ukrainian state and the Ukrainian church on various international platforms. He is engaged by the Russian Federation and used for its own purposes to show that there is no freedom of religion in Ukraine."

The lawsuit notes that the statements by Epifaniy Dumenko are not true, defame Metropolitan Theodosiy, and damage his honor and reputation. Such accusations are called slanderous and effectively attribute a crime to him, which contradicts the principle of the presumption of innocence.

Furthermore, the statement notes that such public attacks contradict canonical rules – in particular, the 55th Canon of the Trullan Council and the 27th Apostolic Canon, which prohibit making unfounded accusations against archpastors. 

Metropolitan Theodosiy’s side asks the court to oblige Epifaniy Dumenko, within five days from the date the court decision comes into force, to refute the false information by posting the text of the rebuttal on the official OCU website in the “News” section, as well as on Dumenko’s personal Facebook page.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Dumenko discussed the "destructive role" of the ROC with the Exarch of Constantinople in Lithuania.

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