Odessa, Ukraine, June 30, 2026
Photo: Odessa Diocese of the OCU
The schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” held its first service at the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky in Odessa that it brutally seized from the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church on June 24, with photographs published by the OCU’s Odessa Diocese showing Ukrainian flags draped over frescoes of Orthodox saints.
In particular, photos reveal that the nationalists covered up frescoes of at least St. Andrei Bogolyubsky and the Royal Martyrs, as they view saints more as representatives of a particular nation or political stance.
An earlier statement from the schismatic diocese referred to several saints as “Russian historical figures who have no connection to the saints of universal Orthodoxy.” The diocese also announced its intention to rename the church after St. Agapit of the Kiev Caves rather than St. Alexander Nevsky.
Photo: Odessa Diocese of the OCU
In a video from just after the seizure, OCU “cleric” Teodor Orobets expressed objection to frescoes depicting the Royal Martyrs, St. Andrei Bogolyubsky, and also Sts. Dmitry Donskoy, Matrona of Moscow, and Ksenia of St. Petersburg as “markers of Moscow religious life.”
The canonical Church's Odessa Diocese has stated that the June 24 takeover involved uniformed men armed with batons who blocked clergy and parishioners from entering the building. Physical force was used against UOC clergy: the diocesan secretary was beaten, and one priest was knocked to the ground and choked, with an ambulance called for those injured.
One of those present also snatched a prayer book from a priest's hands, damaging the cover bearing an icon of the Mother of God. UOC clergy requested permission to complete a moleben but were refused and ultimately compelled to leave the premises. No community assembly or vote authorizing a jurisdictional transfer took place, according to the diocese, which has said it intends to pursue the matter through legal channels.
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