On February 24, Metropolitan Mefodiy Kudriakov, head of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church died after the long illness.
Metropolitan Mefodiy was born 11 March 1949, in the Ternopil region.
In 1981 he become a priest and was among the clergy of the Lviv and Ternopil diocese of the Ukrainian Exarchate - Moscow Patriarchate. In 1995 he became a bishop of the UOC KP but later switched jurisdiction.
On 16 October 2000 - at the Church Sobor of the UAOC, Metropolitan Mefodiy (Kudriakov) was elected Primate of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. He is the successor of Patriarch Dymytriy (Yarema).