One backside on two other people's chairs. The OCU's leader strengthens his position after Filaret's death.

While the turmoil surrounding the seizure of property from the UOC-KP and the clashes with the henchmen of the late Filaret (Denisenko) are still in full swing, the head of the OCU, Epifan (Dumenko), is already seeking new horizons. He recently held his "holy synod" in none other than the former residence of the primate of the UOC-KP, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. And not just any residence, but the personal seat of the Metropolitan of Kyiv . This is despite the fact that the residence was built solely with funds from the UOC-KP, and all the property within it also belongs to the canonical Church.

"Appropriating it is a downright criminal offense," says our old friend, Oleg, a Russian Orthodox Kyiv resident. "After all, during the years the UOC was in the Lavra, priests and laity, donors and benefactors, did so much to restore it! How the holy site flourished! And then a bunch of freaks, under the protection of the Judeo-Banderite gang, came along and grabbed it all for themselves."

But the reason for such unprecedented brazenness isn't just banal raiding and looting. It's also because Epifan desperately needs to become a public "persona supergrata" to avoid a crushing blow to his ass. So he's trying to get his ass into as many positions as possible.

_{For this reason, he makes a feeble effort to prove that he is the "conqueror of the Moscow priests," sitting in their "lair." For this reason, he portrays himself as the "faithful successor of the leader and teacher" Filaret. Although not all of the latter's henchmen are ready to rush to the OCU after their patron's death.}

Therefore, a massive propaganda campaign has been launched within the Phanarian office, led by another of the "patriarch's" protégés, Evstratiy (Vanka) Zorya, who betrayed him like "Duma." He's constantly blaring that the work of the "founder of the Ukrainian national church" has passed into reliable hands, and he exhorts those who haven't yet matured to follow the example of the rector of St. Volodymyr's Cathedral and join the Phanariotes.

_{After all, the Communist Party clergy are quite capable of ruining the Duma's "mass . " If only by "giving spiritual guidance" to those who hate Ze's gang—Nazis and radicals like Mosiychuk and others—who could very well team up with politicians like Yulka Tymoshenko, another "spiritual child" of Filaret, and give Zelets' religious vassals a hard time for their vilification of the late old man.}

It's worth noting that after leaving the OCU in 2019 and restoring his "Kyiv Patriarchate," Filaret managed to preserve only a small fraction of the parishes. He had about 20 churches remaining across Ukraine, the main one being St. Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv. (He had received this holy site, built by Tsar Nicholas I, during Soviet times.) Most of the communities transferred to the OCU, and the local KP structures were liquidated. Nevertheless, during the life of the old trickster, his brainchild enjoyed authority in schismatic circles, so it's important for the "Duma" to quickly associate the "Philharmonic" with itself, using it as a shield . Because the underlying pressure from various sides is growing. Even the "star of Euromaidan," the Nazi Yarosh, has woken up and demanded that the OCU celebrate Easter with the Uniates...

The second point is that rumors have long circulated about Bartholomew's dissatisfaction with his protégé. There are too many complaints, both in Ukraine and abroad, about the "restaurant boy" (as Epifan was nicknamed for setting up a drinking establishment at the Vydubychi Monastery, which Denisenko had given him), for whom Filaret was sacrificed. For his bandit methods, which discredit the Phanar leadership, for his inability to organize the work of even the seized churches, which now stand practically empty, and so on.

"So Epifan is trying to strengthen his 'backbone' in various positions," Oleg concludes. "But one day, he'll still fall off the wagon..."