In Kovel, TRC officers detain a UOC priest and father of four
Archpriest Vitalii Popko. Photo: kaplichka.com
On October 16, 2025, officers of the Lutsk Territorial Recruitment Center (TRC) detained Archpriest Vitalii Popko, a cleric of the UOC Church of the Pochaiv Icon of the Mother of God in Kovel, Volyn region, near his home. The parish website reported the incident.
Father Vitalii has four underage children in his care – two biological and two adopted orphans. He possesses all properly issued documents entitling him to a deferment from mobilization.
According to the parish community, despite this, the priest is currently being held in a distribution center and is being prepared for dispatch to a military training ground.
“We ask for prayers for Archpriest Vitalii Popko,” the message reads.
As the UOJ previously reported, on October 16 a TRC unit in Kyiv detained a UOC protodeacon.
Read also
FIFA dedicates Iran–Egypt match to LGBT community
FIFA has required Muslim athletes to take part in a “Pride match” featuring rainbow-themed symbolism despite their religious convictions.
Palestinian MFA condemns Israel’s seizure of Jerusalem Church land
Palestine called on the international community to stop the displacement of Christians from Jerusalem.
Czech authorities opt out of Istanbul Convention over “gender ideology”
The government withdrew its consent to ratify the document, calling its provisions destructive to the traditional understanding of sex and family.
Dozens of residents embrace Orthodoxy in Mozambique
After administering the sacrament of Baptism, the priest went on to bless the homes of the newly converted Christians.
His Beatitude: Man should use wealth, rather than be used by wealth
The Primate of the UOC explained how to set priorities correctly, stressing that “wealth without God makes a person the most miserable in the whole world.”
Anniversary LGBT march held in Kyiv
Participants in the gay pride parade demanded recognition of same-sex cohabitation and the removal from the new Civil Code of the definition of family as a union between a man and a woman.