Zelensky comes to bid farewell to Filaret

The Zelensky couple at Filaret's body. Photo: Zelensky's press service

On March 21, 2026, Volodymyr Zelensky came to the OCU’s St. Michael’s Cathedral, where the coffin with Filaret Denysenko’s body is lying in state. According to Zelensky, Filaret “made great efforts so that Ukraine would have its own Local Church.”

The president did not clarify which structure he meant – the OCU or the UOC-KP.

Zelensky said that without Filaret’s courage, “it is impossible to imagine the history of Ukrainian independence, our spiritual independence, and the development of a truly strong state of our own.”

Zelensky promised that Filaret would be remembered with gratitude and wished him the Kingdom of Heaven.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Filaret Denysenko died on March 20.

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