Kyiv authorities hand UOC church to OCU first time in many years

St. John the Warrior Church of the UOC in Kyiv. Photo: Open sources

On November 4, 2025, the Kyiv City Military Administration issued decree No. 1107 on the re-registration of the UOC community of Martyr John the Warrior (Desnianskyi district of Kyiv) into the OCU. The decree was signed by the head of the KCMA, Timur Tkachenko.

The text states that the re-registration was carried out based on the "statement of an authorized person" of the UOC community. It also indicates that on September 22, 2025, a meeting of the UOC community allegedly took place, which decided to join the OCU.

Tkachenko made amendments to decree No. 2511 on the registration of the UOC community dated December 29, 1998, and ordered the Department of Culture of the executive body of the KCSA to mark the Statute of the John the Warrior community with a registration note.

The head of the community is Archimandrite Pavel (Sergeev). According to UOJ sources in the community, no meeting on the transition to the OCU took place on September 22 or any other day. Both the head and the parishioners of the church learned about the "transition" from the internet.

Despite the fact that hundreds of churches have been forcibly transferred in the Kyiv region in recent years, no such actions have taken place in Kyiv. Over the years of the OCU's existence, only a few communities have voluntarily changed their affiliation for the OCU.

As the UOJ wrote, according to Victoria Mukha, head of the Kyiv City Council's Permanent Commission on Culture, Tourism, and Information Policy, in three years of Russia's full-scale invasion, only four religious communities in Kyiv have changed their canonical affiliation and transitioned from the UOC to the OCU. And in 2024 and 2025, there were no transitions at all. According to her, there are currently 1,300 religious associations and organizations operating in Kyiv. Of these, 313 belong to the UOC: 267 communities, 14 monasteries, and three higher theological institutions. The OCU has 241 organizations, including 192 communities, 10 monasteries, and three higher theological institutions.

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