Metropolitan Longin appeals to Zelensky over TRC's actions

Metropolitan Longin outside the gates of the recruitment office in Chernivtsi. Photo: Bancheny Monastery

On April 27, 2026, after employees of the recruitment office abducted Archimandrite Sergiy, a monk of Bancheny Monastery who cares for children with disabilities, Metropolitan Longin of Bancheny addressed Volodymyr Zelensky and the country’s leadership in an emotional statement.

“Mr. President and Mr. Governor, I believe that what is now being done by our state, by this force, is lawlessness,” Metropolitan Longin said.

The hierarch recalled that after the rehabilitation center at Bancheny Monastery was liquidated, 180 children with disabilities were left without documents and without any assistance from the state.

“We still have 180 such children – children with disabilities at home, without documents, because our rehabilitation center for children with disabilities was liquidated. And these children were abandoned. For four years now, no one has cared for them, no one even knows they exist on this earth,” the bishop said.

Metropolitan Longin called on the authorities to take all the monastery’s wards, saying that in light of the recruitment office’s actions he is no longer able to care for them.

“We have one state, and we love it. But the people serving in the state today are a disgrace to our Ukraine, to our homeland,” the hierarch stressed.

The metropolitan also said that after what happened he suffered a panic attack and was unsure whether he would be able to attend a court hearing scheduled for Wednesday. “You can put me in prison. I have a court hearing on Wednesday. But after such a panic attack, I cannot appear in court. I now have to receive treatment in hospital,” the hierarch concluded.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that hundreds of believers gathered outside the gates of the recruitment office in Chernivtsi, after which the military enlistment officers released the abducted Archimandrite Sergiy.

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