The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) reaffirms its strong support for Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and All Africa, as well as the entire Patriarchate of Alexandria. They are facing unjust suffering due to the actions of the schismatic Russian Orthodox Church.
The Synodal Letter, adopted at the meeting of the Holy Synod on November 7, 2025, emphasizes that the African continent is “the exclusive canonical territory of the Patriarchate of Alexandria” and not that of Russian schismatic structures.
The OCU pointed out: "We in Ukraine suffer from the same uncanonical actions of the Church of Russia, which, contrary to church order and rules, has established its structures on our territory. This territory is defined by the Patriarchal and Synodal Tomos of autocephaly for the Church of Ukraine. The Church of Russia retains bishops of its jurisdiction and continues to support and promote church divisions, despite our repeated and sincere offers for dialogue, which representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine categorically refuse."
The authors of the letter to the Ecumenical Patriarch also recalled the decisions of the Council of Bishops and the Local Council of the OCU, which condemned the false doctrine of the “Russian world.” This doctrine serves as the basis for the Russian Orthodox Church's unlawful establishment of its structures on the territories of other churches, particularly the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Romanian Patriarchate in Moldova, and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
The OCU emphasizes that "the false doctrine of the ‘Russian world’ and the anti-canonical, schismatic practices of the Church of Russia, which stem from this ethnophyletic and Manichaean teaching, are subject to general ecclesiastical condemnation. Furthermore, Kirill (Vladimir Gundyaev) deserves an ecclesiastical trial and final deprivation of the throne of the Moscow Patriarchate."