Zelensky comments on Filaret's death
The President of Ukraine discussed with the head of the OCU the death of the founder of the Kyiv Patriarchate and noted his contribution to the development of the religious organization.
On March 20, 2026, Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the end of the earthly journey of Filaret Denysenko, reports the official Telegram channel of the head of state. The President reported that he held a conversation with the head of the OCU Epifaniy Dumenko, expressing his condolences.
The head of state called the death of the founder of the Kyiv Patriarchate "a great loss for Ukrainians." In Zelensky's opinion, Denysenko was "a strong personality and one of the most steadfast defenders of the Ukrainian church, sovereignty and statehood." The President also emphasized that the people will always honor his contribution to "building the local Church."
"Without the energy, character and courage of Patriarch Filaret, many of Ukraine's achievements simply would not have existed," Zelensky stated. He added that the deceased taught citizens to "unite around the idea of a strong, independent Ukraine."
Filaret Denysenko (secular name Mychailo Denysenko) died at the age of 98. In 1992, after the Bishops’ Council in Kharkiv, he was removed from the Kyiv See and defrocked, and in 1997 he was excommunicated from the Church through anathema for causing a schism. Despite participating in the creation of the OCU in 2018, Denysenko later entered into conflict with Epifaniy Dumenko and announced the restoration of the UOC-KP structure.
As reported by the UOJ, Denysenko remains one of the key figures in the history of church division in Ukraine. It was he who became the initiator of the schism, the consequences of which determine the religious situation in the country to this day. According to the deceased's will, he requested that his funeral service be conducted in the structures of the Kyiv Patriarchate, not the OCU.
