Monastic tonsure performed at St. Elijah's Monastery of Varvarivka

Tonsure at St. Elijah's Monastery of Varvarivka. Photo: Severodonetsk Eparchy

Archbishop Irinarkh of Novopskov performed monastic tonsure on March 28, 2026, at St. Elijah's Monastery in the village of Varvarivka, Luhansk region, repors the press service of the Severodonetsk Eparchy.

In monasticism, Alexei Gorbachev was given the name Avenir — in honor of Saint Avenir of India.

The sacrament took place with the blessing of the ruling hierarch.

As the UOJ reported, a video of the shelled cathedral of Severodonetsk was published online.

Read also

The Odessa Diocese showed how they revived from ruins a church seized by the OCU

The Odessa Diocese of the UOC published archival footage of the abandoned shrine, which believers had been raising from ruins for years.

In Britain, Evangelical Alliance urges Christians to preach among Muslims

British evangelicals urged Christians to stop fearing Islam and begin seeing migrants as a “mission field.”

Khmelnytskyi Eparchy delivers 20 tons of aid to hospitals and social institutions

Volunteers distributed a large humanitarian shipment among 16 medical and social institutions in the Khmelnytskyi region.

UGCC head blames Russia for tensions between Poland and Ukraine

Shevchuk claimed that Moscow is financing radical parties across Europe in an effort to undermine solidarity between Warsaw and Kyiv.

Priest to Dumenko: What are your fruits? Tears, fights, and forged documents?

A UOC cleric responded to statements by OCU head Epiphany Dumenko about the “restoration” of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

OCU “hierarchs” in Dnipro hold prayer breakfast with Jews and Catholics

Around 400 participants, including representatives of Dumenko’s structure, held a joint prayer breakfast in Dnipro.