Shevchuk claims Putin wants him dead, Australian media report

Sviatoslav Shevchuk. Photo: press service of the UGCC

On December 22, 2025, the Australian newspaper The Australian published comments by UGCC head Sviatoslav Shevchuk, who said that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants him dead.

The article ran under the headline “Putin wants this man dead.” The text says that Shevchuk is “a brave leader who today condemns the Russian tyrant and Putin’s religious leader – Patriarch Kirill.”

The author of the piece sets out Sviatoslav Shevchuk’s biography in detail and also describes the history of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

According to Shevchuk, Vladimir Putin wants him dead because he “cannot accept free Christianity, free thought, and liberation from a system of oppression and manipulation.” At the same time, the publication itself notes that there is no evidence of Putin’s intent toward Shevchuk.

“There is no evidence that such a list exists. However, the war in Ukraine has shown how far Putin is prepared to go,” the text says.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that Serhiy Dumenko claimed UOC priests were involved in plans to have him shot.

Read also

Sand for construction of Yermak’s residence brought from cemetery, MP says

MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak said that sand illegally removed from a cemetery in Ukrainka was used in the construction of the elite Dynasty cooperative in Kozyn.

Italian court recognizes family with three parents as legal

In Bari, the appellate court ordered authorities to register an adoption according to which a child is listed as having two "fathers" and one mother.

Archaeologists discover biblical Bethsaida on shore of Sea of Galilee

Researchers have discovered a first-century residential house beneath the apse of a Byzantine church and a mosaic inscription mentioning the Apostle Peter.

Israeli soldiers receive jail terms for mocking statue of the Virgin Mary

Those involved in the act of sacrilege in the village of Debel will spend several weeks behind bars for desecrating a statue of the Mother of God.

Serbian Church officially receives back land of 15th-century monastery

An agreement was signed in Belgrade transferring the territory of the ancient Vojlovica Monastery to the Banat Eparchy.

Pat Daniel comments on conflict between Phanar bishop and community in Turkey

The Bulgarian Primate believes that the hierarch of the Constantinople Patriarchate should not have forced the Bulgarian community in Edirne to serve in Greek.