Kiev, August 6, 2025
Photo: pravlife.info
His Eminence Metropolitan Vissarion of Ovruch and Korosten of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been hospitalized for the second time in less than a month, requiring emergency surgery.
The Metropolitan was hospitalized again yesterday and underwent surgery this morning at the Shalimov Institute. Doctors are describing the hierarch’s condition as extremely serious, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists, with reference to the First Cossack channel.
According to diocesan sources, the Metropolitan was able to complete his morning prayers at the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in Korosten before his condition suddenly deteriorated, requiring immediate hospitalization.
The clergy and laity of the diocese have organized round-the-clock prayers for Met. Vissarion’s health. Molebens for the Metropolitan’s recovery are being held in churches throughout the region.
This marks the second time the hierarch has required medical attention recently, causing particular concern among the faithful. His Eminence previously underwent heart surgery on July 20 but had returned to celebrating services by July 24 before this latest medical emergency.
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His Eminence was one of the first hierarchs targeted by the state after the start of the war in early 2022, and in fact, he has been a target for decades. In 2019, he spoke about how under the USSR, the authorities accused him of working for the West, but now they accuse him of working for the Kremlin. The hierarch recalled how the KGB threatened to arrest him for distributing morning and evening prayers, and now the authorities harass him for standing firm in his loyalty to the true Church of Christ.
In April 2022, police conducted raids on diocesan buildings, confiscating books and threatening clergy and believers, trying to force them to transfer to the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”
In September 2023, Met. Vissarion was indicted for “inciting religious enmity”—the same phony charge that has been brought against a host of hierarchs and clerics who denounce the schismatics.
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