During Great Lent 2025, the Chairman of the “St. Sophia Brotherhood,” Protopriest Oleksandr Sorokin, made the decision to join the Orthodox Church of Ukraine after leaving the parish of St. Alexander Nevsky of the UOC in the village of Khotiv, Kyiv region, where he had served as the second priest for three years.
His first Divine Liturgy within the Orthodox Church of Ukraine was celebrated on April 13, Palm Sunday, at the Holy Trinity Church in the town of Nosivka, Chernihiv region, together with his spiritual friend and brother in faith — Protopriest Volodymyr Budnik. Fr. Volodymyr had served for many years as dean of the Hola Prystan district of the Kherson diocese of the UOC, and after the full-scale invasion, he and his family were forced to leave their home. He joined the Orthodox Church of Ukraine two years ago.
On June 21, Fr. Oleksandr concelebrated the Divine Liturgy with Metropolitan Oleksandr Drabynko of the OCU (Pereiaslav and Vyshneve) at the Transfiguration Cathedral. It was Metropolitan Oleksandr who had received him into the diocese during Great Lent.
Although the head of the Brotherhood did not make a public announcement about his transition, the joint liturgy with the Metropolitan became a visible testimony to his new ecclesiastical path.
In addition, Fr. Oleksandr has registered a new parish in honor of St. Nicholas, located on the grounds of his own therapeutic garden with a lavender field in the Kyiv region. This space is intended to provide support, assistance, and rehabilitation for veterans, their families, and all those affected by the war.