Was the true number of voluntary transfers accidentally revealed in the OCU?

Defectors from the UOC with their new leader. Photo: OCU

On the 7th anniversary of the "Unification Council," Serhiy Dumenko came up with a creative idea. He decided to bring to Kyiv clerics who voluntarily defected from the UOC to his structure. An "appeal" from these people was also organized to the episcopate and clergy of the UOC, urging them to follow their example and join the OCU.

There is no point in analyzing this text in detail as it is purely propagandistic in nature, where everything is turned upside down. Betrayal is called a "courageous choice", and joining a group of people without ordination is termed "overcoming schism," as well as "an act of true internal change and canonical correction".

But there is something truthful there. Let us recall that in the official rhetoric of the OCU, the Tomos united all Ukrainians. On December 15, 2025, Dumenko officially stated that "the Unification Council overcame internal divisions: we returned three divided branches into a single canonically correct structure."

However, defectors from the UOC accidentally refuted this thesis. They pointed out that the episcopate and clergy of the UOC
"in the overwhelming majority ignored the historic opportunity for timely and conciliar unity, rejecting the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew."

And here someone is lying: either Dumenko or the defectors.

But we would like to emphasize something else – the number of these very defectors. According to the statistics of the OCU and the authorities, more than 2000 churches "voluntarily transferred" into Dumenko's structure. In the photo from St. Michael's, there are 38 people, some of whom are "authentic" OCU clerics who have never had anything to do with the UOC. Of course, one can assume that some of those who ‘transferred’ were unable to come to Kyiv on the appointed day. But it is unlikely that there were many of them; otherwise, Dumenko would not have started this whole story. Therefore, 38 people is approximately the number of those who truly voluntarily moved to the OCU. Yes, there are also cases where a community (church, not territorial) decided to join Epifaniy without a priest. But such cases are rare, a statistical error.

And then it's simple math. 38 out of 2000 is about 2%. This is the percentage of real voluntary transitions from the UOC to the OCU that Serhiy Dumenko demonstrated to us. Of course, he did not do this intentionally; he had a completely different goal in mind with this action.

But that is the peculiarity of simple-hearted people. sometimes they tell the truth without meaning to.

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