UOC clergy deliver Easter gifts to Lukianivka detention center

Blessing of the Easter gifts at the capital’s Vvedensky Monastery. Photo: UOC Information and Education Department

On April 16, 2026, clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church greeted inmates of the Lukianivka pretrial detention center on the feast of the Bright Resurrection of Christ. The priests delivered a large batch of Easter gifts to the facility, according to the UOC Information and Education Department.

This year, the clergy prepared 1,600 Easter cakes and 3,000 eggs for those being held in custody. The charitable initiative was organized through the joint efforts of the capital’s Vvedensky Monastery and its abbot, Archbishop Damian of Fastiv, as well as Archpriest Serhiy Chertylyn, a cleric of the Church of All Saints of the Warriors.

Orthodox attorneys also joined the effort – Archpriest Mykyta Chekman and Hierodeacon Aristarkh (Karahovnyk).

Before the gifts were sent to the detention center, Archpriest Serhiy blessed them on the grounds of the Vvedensky Monastery. Addressing those present, he stressed that the Church’s mission is always to remain close to those who feel abandoned.

“Every year, together, we help and support the inmates being held in Lukianivka detention center. This time we obtained an Easter cake for each of them so that we could greet them on the Bright Resurrection of Christ. Most importantly, we must remember that the Church is always with those who are suffering and never forgets people in a state of abandonment,” Fr. Serhiy said.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the UOC Social Department brought Easter gifts to a boarding school in Kyiv.

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