MP on expulsion of UOC from Volodymyr cathedral: “No katsaps here anymore”

Huz and Dumenko in the seized UOC cathedral in Volodymyr. Photo: screenshot of MP's Facebook video

On January 31, 2026, MP Ihor Huz spoke inside the Dormition Cathedral in the city of Volodymyr, from which the Ukrainian Orthodox Church community had been driven out at the end of 2025. He posted a video of his speech on Facebook.

The address came after the first religious event in the cathedral, led by Serhii Dumenko. Standing on the ambo beside the head of the OCU, the MP claimed that “Moscow’s power” over the cathedral had supposedly lasted “for centuries” and had now ended. He described what happened as the “return of the Ukrainian Church” to the “heart of the princely city” and framed the event as “a step toward a great victory.”

At the same time, Huz stressed that “there will be no Moscow here anymore,” contrasting it with “the Ukrainian spirit, Ukrainian prayer, and Ukrainian truth.” The MP also pointed to one of the cathedral’s wall paintings depicting the imperial family executed by the Bolsheviks, asserting that it had been created by “katsaps” – a derogatory slur for Russians.

In closing, he said the Volodymyr City Council would soon finalize documents to transfer the St. Volodymyr chapel to the OCU, and he urged former UOC parishioners to return to the cathedral, insisting that the “church has been freed from Moscow’s grip.”

As the UOJ reported, in Volodymyr, Dumenko conducted a “liturgy” in the Dormition Cathedral seized from the UOC.

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