Poturaev: Due to the lack of Ukrainian churches abroad, some Ukrainians attend Russian churches
Mykita Poturaev, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, stated that the insufficient number of Ukrainian churches abroad is forcing some Ukrainians to turn to Russian parishes.
According to him, Ukrainians living outside the country need spiritual support and communication with priests, but due to the limited presence of Ukrainian churches, they often end up in Russian churches.
“People feel the need to go to church to receive spiritual support. Unfortunately, for objective reasons, they often end up with Moscow priests. This is a problem we are aware of,” Poturaev noted.
He explained that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is not represented in all countries, and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is limited by the provisions of the Tomos and cannot independently establish parishes abroad.
At the same time, according to the MP, there are significantly more Russian churches in European countries.
Poturaev added that Ukrainian churches are working to expand their presence outside Ukraine, and the state, for its part, is also seeking ways to resolve this issue.
Source: press conference by Mykyta Poturaev.
Earlier, a court in Khmelnytskyi ruled to return 1.79 million hryvnias to the former head of the Khmelnytskyi Diocese of the UOC-MP, Metropolitan Anthony (Vasyl Fiyalko).
The Chechelivsky District Court of Dnipro released from custody the vicar of the Holy Dormition Svyatogorsk Lavra of the UOC-MP, Metropolitan Arseniy (Igor Yakovenko). The court changed his pretrial measure to round-the-clock house arrest until April 25, 2026.
