Volodymyr-Volynskyi Eparchy details TRC attack on hierarch’s car

Metropolitan Volodymyr. Photo: press service of the Volodymyr-Volynskyi Eparchy

The secretary of the Volodymyr-Volynskyi Eparchy, Archpriest Oleksandr Kobenko, told the UOJ details of the incident at a TRC checkpoint that occurred on the evening of May 7, 2026. According to him, military enlistment officers stopped a car on the Rivne–Lutsk highway carrying Metropolitan Volodymyr of Volodymyr-Volynskyi and Kovel, eparchy secretary Archpriest Oleksandr, and Deacon Dmytro Manetskyi.

The secretary said that he and Fr. Dmytro had deferments. However, before even beginning to check the documents, TRC officers began behaving aggressively and extremely rudely.

The hierarch was insulted and ordered to get out of the car, despite having been removed from military registration because of a severe form of diabetes. Archpriest Oleksandr has a high degree of myopia and is also not subject to mobilization. Nevertheless, when he tried to protect the hierarch, one of the enlistment officers began striking him and sprayed tear gas in his face.

Metropolitan Volodymyr suffered a heart attack, and his blood pressure and blood sugar rose sharply. For that reason, the TRC officers left him in the car. The other clergymen were dragged into a minibus, but after sorting out the documents, the officers were forced to release them. According to the secretary, the hierarch, he himself, and the deacon remain in shock over the actions of the TRC officers.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the TRC had given its version of the conflict with Metropolitan Volodymyr.

Read also