UOC-KP dioceses say Filaret’s visit to Dumenko was coerced

Filaret Denysenko and Epifaniy Dumenko. Photo: OCU

On November 6, 2025, dioceses of the UOC-Kyiv Patriarchate declared that Filaret Denysenko’s visit to Epifaniy Dumenko of the OCU was not voluntary but the result of pressure and “abduction.” The statement appeared in a publication of the Odesa–Balta Diocese of the UOC-KP and in an official message by the ruling hierarch of the Sumy Diocese, who is also temporarily overseeing the Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Poltava dioceses.

The Odesa diocese emphasized that “no provocations from the OCU will be accepted,” and that the clergy and faithful “will defend their Primate to the end.” Claims of a “voluntary surrender” of Filaret to Epifaniy were described as journalistic fabrications with no legal validity.

The authors of the statement reminded readers that Filaret Denysenko, “in sound mind and clear memory,” had officially left a spiritual testament. According to them, representatives of the OCU are attempting to undermine this document through people in Filaret’s immediate circle – “but they will not succeed.”

The hierarch of the Sumy Diocese reported that Filaret’s health had deteriorated sharply since late August, that he had disappeared from public broadcasts, and that his close relatives had restricted clergy access to him. According to the hierarch, on November 5 Filaret “was brought under the influence of psychotropic substances to the St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery,” where he was likely to be made to sign a document on the liquidation of the Kyiv Patriarchate.

“There will be no unification with the schismatics on their terms. The Kyiv Patriarchate will inevitably continue to exist, even if the OCU attempts to illegally seize the Patriarchate and St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral,” the hierarch of the Sumy Diocese of the UOC-KP emphasized.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Epifaniy had received Filaret at his residence and presented him with a “letter of gratitude.”

Read also