MP calls officials who extended UOC monastery leases in Volyn “bastards”

Huz (right) with Serhiy Dumenko. Photo: Huz’s Facebook

On March 31, 2026, during a session of the Volyn Regional Council, Member of Parliament Ihor Huz publicly insulted officials who had signed documents extending lease agreements for UOC monasteries in the region.

Huz alleged, without providing evidence, that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is “affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate” and described opposition to it as a “shared and unequivocal task.” He referred to those who in 2020 signed 50-year lease agreements with UOC communities for several sites – including the Zymne and Nyzkynychi monasteries – as “bastards.”

“If in 2020 certain – I don’t even know what to call them – bastards had not signed 50-year lease agreements, we would have long since returned these shrines to Ukrainian Orthodoxy,” the MP said.

Huz described the signing of these agreements as a “shameful episode” that “requires a state assessment,” expressing frustration that neither the government nor security services had provided one. He also noted that some of the individuals involved in signing the agreements were present in the session hall.

According to Huz, the UOC allegedly does not conduct funeral services for fallen soldiers, and he further claimed that “agents” operate within the Church’s structure.

The MP also framed the issue as part of a “spiritual front” and called on regional council deputies to act jointly, promising results “in the near future.”

Earlier, the UOJ reported that representatives of the OCU had promised the MP a revival of monastic life at the Miletsky Monastery.

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