concerning the incapacity of Volodymyr, the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine, to perform the duties of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. On 13 August 2014 Onufriy was elected the new primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine of the Moscow Patriarchate (succeeding Metropolitan Volodymyr). In February 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, along with other local bishops (such as the rival Epiphanius), he offered churches of his diocese as shelters from the bombings. Views Metropolitan Onufriy has referred to Ukraine's aspirations to join the European Union as a "tragedy". Onufriy has voiced his support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Onufriy refused to stand up when the Ukrainian parliament honoured the Ukrainian fighters of the War in Donbass (against pro-Russian unionists), but later commented about it. In August 2014 Onufriy stated that there were no priests in the Ukrainian Church who supported separatism. His Church has mostly abstained from commenting on the 2014–15 Russian military intervention in Ukraine. In February 2016 he said that "in a situation of continued military confrontation in eastern Ukraine, we emphasize that we unfailingly stand on the side of peace and support all peace initiatives of the Ukrainian authorities". On the first day of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Onufriy called the war "a disaster" stating that "The Ukrainian and Russian peoples came out of the Dnieper Baptismal font, and the war between these peoples is a repetition of the sin of Cain, who killed his own brother out of envy. Such a war has no justification either from God or from people." He also expressed "our special love and support to our soldiers who stand guard and protect and defend our land and our people. May God bless and cherish them!". References External links 1944 births Living people People from Chernivtsi Oblast 20th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops 21st-century Eastern Orthodox bishops History of Christianity in Ukraine First Hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) Russian Orthodox bishops of Kyiv