The rector and the flock of one of the largest churches in Lutsk, the Holy Annunciation, announced their withdrawal from the UOC and joining the OCU. They announced this decision after the last meeting of the synod of the UOC-MP headed by Metropolitan Onufry.

“I was very surprised by the decision of the Synod of the UOC, which, in my opinion, did not at all lower the degree in society and among the priesthood. The decisions that were made did not change anything regarding the repeated appeals of the clergy and believers. We all expected certain changes in actions and attitudes towards the invaders of our Motherland and those who blessed and supported them.. They do not remember or condemn either Putin or Kirill, which means that there will be no question of separating from the Russian Church,” said the rector of the temple Vladimir Litvinchuk.

This is only the second temple in the city that dared to move to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine from the moment it received the tomos, and the first to decide on such a decision after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the open approval of this step by the Russian Orthodox Church, accountable to the UOC-MP.

In Volyn, a number of churches and communities have already been transferred to the OCU after February 24, 2022. (marked in red).

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The Synod of the UOC-MP called on the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to stop “lawlessness on religious grounds” in Ukraine, referring to the transition of some communities to the OCU, without a word condemning the ROC’s approval of the war in Ukraine.

It should be noted that the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Churches have collected more than four hundred signatures under an appeal to the Primates of the Eastern Churches. on the trial of Patriarch Kirill, who supported the war against Ukraine.