Rector in Kuzmin: I've served community for 33 years, and now become Russian?

An address by Archpriest Heorhiy Sikaliuk at the meeting in Kuzmin. December 21, 2025 Photo: UOJ

On December 21, 2025, in the village of Kuzmin, Khmelnytskyi district, there was a meeting where people who were not members of the religious community transferred the local Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos of the Khmelnytskyi Eparchy to the OCU. The rector of the church, Archpriest Heorhiy Sikaliuk, addressed the attendees with a speech.

The priest pointed out that he dedicated his entire life to serving the community and the church: "I came to you in '92, I was 27. I devoted my whole life to serving this church. I baptized and married you, shared joy and sorrow with you." And despite this, "today you crucify me here and say that I am Russian?" said the rector of the church. 

Father Heorhiy rejected accusations of an anti-Ukrainian stance and emphasized that the sons and grandsons of the parishioners are fighting in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "We are not criminals. We are not Russians. We are Ukrainians with Ukrainian passports. Our parishioners are defending Ukraine," the priest emphasized.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote about the statement of the Khmelnytskyi Eparchy regarding the meeting on the transition in Kuzmin.

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