Seizure in Chernivtsi overseen by Epifaniy's uncle, video
After the beating and expulsion of UOC priests from the Chernivtsi cathedral, Ivan Chokaliuk, the uncle of the head of the OCU, entered there together with the militants.
The seizure of the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the UOC in Chernivtsi on June 17 was overseen by the uncle of the head of the OCU, Epifaniy, "Fr" Ivan Chokaliuk, assistant to the head of the Bukovynian Eparchy of the OCU, Feognost Bodoriak. This conclusion can be drawn after viewing the CCTV footage of the cathedral.
Immediately after the beating and expulsion of the UOC priests from the church, the militants brought Chokaliuk inside. He was dressed in civilian clothes: a shirt and trousers. On entering, he changed into a cassock, apparently awaiting the arrival of his associates. Chokaliuk in a cassock was caught on several cameras located inside the cathedral.
At the same time, when the police were removing the militants from the cathedral and loading them into buses after the failed seizure, Ivan Chokaliuk ran out with them, but already back in civilian clothes.
The fact that Epifaniy Dumenko comes from the Chokaliuk family, was revealed in 2019 by Filaret Denysenko. In an interview with the resource "Сomments.ua", Filaret stated that Epifaniy is the illegitimate son of the Rivne "metropolitan" of the UOC-KP, Danyil Chokaliuk, who died in 2005. "There is already evidence of this. Previously, there were rumors, but now we have evidence that this is the son of Metropolitan Danyil born out of wedlock," Denysenko stated at the time. Danyil was the eldest son in the Chokaliuk family. The middle brother, Sviatoslav Chokaliuk, a candidate of theology, professor, secretary of the Academic Council of the Kyiv Theological Academy (UOC-KP and OCU), died in 2024. Ivan Chokaliuk is the youngest son.
