Mobilized UOC cleric missing after SBU takes him from training ground

Priest Andriy Denysenko. Photo: t.me/nikita_chekman

A cleric of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Fr. Andrii Denysenko, has gone missing after being taken from a military training ground by officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), according to Archpriest Nikita Chekman.

According to Fr. Andrii's wife, on June 25, 2026, the priest was detained at the Bykivnia checkpoint by patrol police officers and taken to the Dniprovskyi District Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support (TCR). He was later assigned to the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, where he underwent military training. The last time he contacted his family was on July 26, after which, according to one of his fellow servicemen, the unit was sent to a military training ground.

Some time later, Fr. Andrii's wife was informed that approximately five days earlier SBU officers had taken him directly from the training ground. According to the fellow serviceman, the priest underwent a polygraph examination, after which SBU officers said they had additional questions for him and removed him from the military unit together with his personal belongings.

As Archpriest Nikita Chekman noted, the family has not been informed of Fr. Andrii's whereabouts, the legal grounds for his detention, or his procedural status.

According to the lawyer, the legal team has already begun handling the case. They plan to submit formal legal requests, statements, and petitions to the relevant authorities to establish the priest's whereabouts, clarify the legal basis for his detention, and verify whether his constitutional rights are being respected.

As the UOJ previously reported, lawyers had earlier appealed to the State Bureau of Investigation and the police over the alleged abduction of a UOC cleric in Lutsk by TRC personnel.

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