TRC seizes cleric of Vvedensky Monastery in Chernivtsi

Archdeacon Valentyn Makovsky abducted by the TRC. Photo: FB group "Faithful of the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Eparchy of the UOC"

On October 25, 2025, officers of the Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center (TRC) detained Archdeacon Valentyn Makovsky, a cleric of the Vvedensky Monastery in Chernivtsi, the Facebook group "Faithful of the Chernivtsi–Bukovyna Eparchy of the UOC" reported.

The clergyman is currently being held at the Chernivtsi TRC. Believers are asking for prayers for him, as well as for Fr. Fedir Hnytetsky, another priest who has been held by military officials for a long time.

Recall that the UOC is the only confession in Ukraine whose clergy have not been granted exemption from mobilization. At the same time, according to priestly vows, a man in holy orders is not permitted to take up arms.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to the UOC’s chancellor, the mobilization of its clergy constitutes a deliberate desecration of the priesthood.

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