Ambassador in Cyprus: Title of St. Luke reminds that Crimea is Ukraine

Archbishop Georgios and Serhiy Nezhynskyi. Photo: Embassy of Ukraine in Cyprus

On September 12, 2025, Ukraine’s new ambassador to Cyprus, Serhiy Nezhynskyi, met with the primate of the Church of Cyprus, Archbishop Georgios. Nezhynskyi noted that the Church of Cyprus had recognized the OCU and presented the hierarch with an icon of St. Luke containing relics. He did not specify where he obtained it.

The diplomat emphasized the “brotherly love between our Orthodox Churches” and expressed confidence that “the earthly title of the saint ‘of Crimea’ will always and forever remind all who turn to him for help that Crimea is Ukraine.”

It should be recalled that St. Luke was a hierarch of the Russian Church. He received the title of bishop “of Crimea and Simferopol” in 1946, when Crimea still belonged to the RSFSR.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to “Metropolitan” Mykhailo Zinkevych, Alexander Nevsky was known for his Ukrainophobic stance.

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