TRC officers detain 52-year-old rector of two UOC churches in Uman Eparchy

UOC Uman Eparchy cleric Priest Mykola Yevtushenko. Photo: UOJ

On July 21, 2026, police and recruitment officers stopped a car traveling to Uman, checked the passengers’ documents, detained 52-year-old Uman Eparchy cleric Priest Mykola Yevtushenko, and took him to a Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center, the priest’s family told the UOJ.

According to Fr. Mykola’s relatives, recruitment officers said the priest was listed as wanted. They asked him to accompany them to update his military registration records and undergo a military medical examination, assuring him that he would be released once the required procedures had been completed.

“I waited until 5:30 p.m. The duty officer confirmed that he was there but said they had no other information,” the family’s statement reads.

The priest was not allowed to take his phone with him. His family later received a note from him asking them to bring clothing and medication, as he is still undergoing treatment. His relatives were not permitted to see him.

Priest Mykola Yevtushenko serves in the UOC’s Uman Eparchy. He is the rector of the Church of Hieromartyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki in the village of Tanske and the Church of the Holy Unmercenary Healers Cosmas and Damian in the village of Dobrovody.

The following morning, the recruitment center’s duty officer contacted the priest’s family again and relayed his request for additional belongings, medication, fruit, and vegetables. The items were accepted, but the family was once again denied permission to see him.

Recruitment center officials said only that representatives of a local military unit were interviewing Fr. Mykola.

As the UOJ reported earlier, recruitment officers abducted the vice-rector of Sumy Theological Seminary.

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