The Russian Orthodox Church, by the decision of its Synod, illegally annexed the “Rovenky and Sverdlovsk” diocese of the UOC (MP) in Luhansk region.
This is stated in the decision of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, published on the website of the Moscow Patriarchate.
“Given the practical impossibility of regular communication between this diocese and the Kyiv Metropolitanate … the Rovenky eparchy shall be accepted under direct canonical and administrative subordination to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church,” the statement says.
It also says the decision of the ROC Synod allegedly came as a response to the appeal of Archbishop Arkadiy of “Rovenky and Sverdlovsk”, “based on the need to maintain an effective canonical and administrative connection with the central church authorities for the smooth flow of church life in the Rovenky diocese.”
