300 communities remain under the influence of the Moscow Patriarchate in Kherson region

Almost 300 churches belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate still operate in the Kherson region. Some of the communities operate openly, while others change their names or formally hide their subordination in an effort to avoid publicity.

This is evidenced by the data of the monitoring service Opendatabot.

Almost three hundred churches remain subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate in the Kherson region. According to the Opendatabot service, 295 such religious communities are officially registered in the region.

The largest number of centers of the Moscow Patriarchate is in Kherson and surrounding communities (49), in Beryslav district (31), Novotroitsk district (29), Kakhovka district (24), and Skadovsk district (20). Another 18 churches are registered in the area of Nova Kakhovka, 17 in the Holoprystan community, and 14 near Henichesk.

Some parishes continue to indicate affiliation with the Russian Church, while others do not formally indicate their affiliation or are in the process of transitioning to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The Ministry of Justice confirmed the information about these communities' ties to the Moscow Patriarchate.

The number of churches of the Russian Orthodox Church of Ukraine. SCREENSHOT: Opendatabot

Despite the full-scale invasion and initiatives to ban the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church, its communities still operate in most settlements of the region, including the territories that were under occupation.

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine is ready to accept parishes that are currently part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), but under certain conditions.

This was reported by Archpriest Theodore Orobets of the OCU during a live broadcast on Intent.Insight. According to him, negotiations are underway with all communities, but the final decision will be made by the synod. He added that the priests who collaborated with the aggressor country are not going to be admitted. The archpriest also noted that ROC priests rarely move to the OCU out of ideological convictions alone - most often other factors influence this.

The law banning the activities of religious institutions with ties to Russia on the territory of Ukraine came into force on September 23, 2024. Religious communities were given nine months to completely sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Анна Бальчінос