DESS: Almost 1,400 parishes "transferred" from UOC to OCU over past 3 years
The DESS head Viktor Yelensky. Photo: DESS website
Approximately 1378 religious communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church "transferred" to the OCU during the years 2022–2025, stated the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience. This was reported by Interfax-Ukraine.
According to the State Service's data, 483 communities were legally "transferred" in 2022, 471 in 2023, 233 in 2024, and 191 in 2025. The largest number of the so-called transfers was recorded in the Kyiv (306), Khmelnytskyi (295), Vinnytsia (159), Zhytomyr (128), and Cherkasy (104) regions. No such changes were registered in the Luhansk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Officials explained that their data are based on the official registrations of religious organizations in regional administrations. According to them, the process of "transfers" is accompanied by legal and property disputes, especially in the western regions of Ukraine.
As reported by the UOJ, Bishop Pimen stated that there were only three voluntary transfers in the Rivne Eparchy. According to the UOC parishes themselves, decisions on transfers are often made without considering the opinion of the communities, which becomes a subject of legal proceedings and appeals to government bodies.
Read also
Prayers offered for victims of shelling in destroyed UOC church, Kryvyi Rih
Metropolitan Ephraim offered prayers for those killed and wounded in the shelling of Kryvyi Rih within the walls of a church destroyed by a missile strike.
Director of the Orthodox School in Holosiiv: We were slandered
The head of the school at the Holosiiv Monastery stated that journalists distorted the facts about the teachers' work and in some cases outright lied.
Moldova’s Orthodox Church could be stripped of 800 churches – media
A ruling by the Chisinau Court of Appeal creates a mechanism for transferring holy sites away from the Orthodox Church of Moldova in favor of the Bessarabian Metropolis.
His Beatitude leads Liturgy in Feofania on Venerable Bonifatius feast day
The festive service at the Panteleimon Women’s Monastery took place on the day of commemoration of the Feofania ascetic and gathered hierarchs and clergy of the UOC.
MinCulture to hold scientific conference on history of humanities at Lavra
The event, focusing on the development of humanities research, will take place on January 15–16, bringing together scholars and museum professionals.
Luna: Ukrainian officials involved in church seizures to be held accountable
In an exclusive comment to the UOJ, Anna Paulina Luna promised to hold accountable the Ukrainian officials involved in the seizure of UOC churches.