On June 20-21, 2022, Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich) of Boryspil and Brovarsky, Metropolitan of Boryspil and Brovary, sent letters to the Primates and Hierarchs of a number of Local Orthodox Churches, where he informed about the latest events in the Boryspil diocese and in general in Ukraine. This was reported by the press service of the Boryspil diocese of the UOC.

In particular, the letters were sent to the Heads of the Antioch, Jerusalem, Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Georgian, Polish, Albanian, Czech-Slovak, American Orthodox Churches, as well as to a number of hierarchs of the above-mentioned Churches, including hierarchs from the Cypriot Church, with whom Metropolitan Anthony is personally acquainted.

Welcoming the Primates and foreign Orthodox hierarchs with the beginning of the Petrine Lent, Metropolitan Anthony stated that “various anti-church forces continue to use the difficult situation in the country for their own purposes.” Vladyka said that in his diocese, “by the decision of 5 city and village councils, under pressure from the local leadership and ignoring the opinion of the actual parishioners, populist and illegal decisions were made to ban or terminate the activities of the UOC on the territory of these communities.” In general, there are 36 such cases in Ukraine.

All over the country there were actions of forcible seizure of churches by supporters of the new “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”. “A total of 250 temples were captured, and there are only 53 crossings. Attempts to “transfer” this or that parish to the mentioned confession are nothing more than open church raiding, and this is done frankly in favor of the “OCU”. Despite the declarative statements by the latter about the readiness for dialogue, in real life the mentioned hostile actions continue, which make it impossible to start,” Metropolitan Anthony states.

“Priests and believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in many villages and towns,” the letter says, “are again forced to equip temporary premises for worship and file lawsuits at a time when a small number of people attend worship in selected churches.” All these decisions and seizures of temples by supporters of the “OCU” are taking place with the aim of sowing division and enmity between Ukrainians on the ground and provoking them to violent conflicts, thereby shaking the integrity of our country from the inside.

“As the Administrator of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, I addressed an open letter to our President V. A. Zelensky, as well as to the Ambassadors of European and other countries in Ukraine and international human rights organizations. However, at present, we have not yet received any clear answer, and we still do not see the appropriate actions from the state that would affect the normalization of this situation in the country, ”says Metropolitan Anthony.

At the same time, despite the above-mentioned trials, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church continues to fulfill its mission among the people of Ukraine, providing assistance to all people who suffered and suffered from the war, refugees, opening communities abroad to take care of those believers who were forced to leave.

The head of the UOC in a letter asked the Orthodox hierarchs from the Local Churches to continue offering prayers for the clergy and believers of the Boryspil diocese, as well as for the entire Ukrainian people.

Also on June 16, 2022, Metropolitan Anthony addressed the EU ambassadors and international organizations about attempts to ban the UOC in Ukraine.