Dumenko: Our Church is being liberated from the “Russian World”
Serhiy Dumenko. Photo: OCU website
On September 4, 2025, during his address at the Protection of the Mother of God Church in Chortkiv, Ternopil region, the head of the OCU, Epifaniy Dumenko, declared that what is now underway is the “de-occupation” of the OCU “from the centuries-long enslavement by the ‘Russian world.’”
“To build its dark empire of evil, Moscow more than three hundred years ago took part of our Church into captivity,” Dumenko assured his audience, without specifying exactly which part he meant.
According to him, the OCU has struggled and intends to continue “struggling against every form of enslavement and every attempt to subjugate us.”
He also stated that “the leading figures of Cossack Ukraine fought for the rights and freedoms of the Orthodox Kyiv Metropolis.”
Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to Dumenko, there are many figures in the UOC whom he will never accept into the OCU.
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