Ihor Huz

Ihor Huz

Date of birth: January 11, 1982

People’s Deputy of Ukraine of the VIII and IX Convocations of the Verkhovna Rada. In 2019, he was elected for a second term in single-member constituency No. 19 (Volyn Oblast) as an independent self-nominated candidate.

Deputy Chair of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development, and Urban Planning. Member of the parliamentary group “For the Future” in the Verkhovna Rada.

For five years, MP Ihor Huz has been the main lobbyist behind the persecution of believers and clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in Volyn Oblast.

Huz has repeatedly distinguished himself by public hate-filled rhetoric toward Orthodox Christians, as well as by disseminating blatantly false information aimed at damaging the reputation and dignity of the Orthodox Church.

Moreover, from the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada, the MP called for repression and reprisals against the UOC and lobbied anti-church legislative initiatives.

January 21, 2020 MP Huz took part in a smear campaign against the parish of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos Church of the UOC in the village of Susval.

The day before, a group of raiders affiliated with the OCU, under the pretext of a villager’s funeral, attempted to seize the church by force. After the failed takeover, the perpetrators—who had even brought new locks for the church—spread false information.

OCU activists claimed that believers had allegedly refused to let them into the church out of personal animosity toward the deceased.

Huz picked up this fake story and called on the UOC to “repent and self-dissolve.”

“What makes us human, or why do some Homo sapiens become animals? A church oriented toward a country that has killed and oppressed Ukrainians for hundreds of years and that cannot allow a deceased Christian into a village church cannot lay claim to anything,” the MP stated.

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May 13, 2022 Huz published an information resource he created containing instructions for raider seizures of UOC churches.

At the same time, the MP misled readers with false claims that his instructions allegedly complied with the law.

He accompanied the publication with a video in which he publicly incited hatred against Orthodox Christians and referred to the UOC as the “Moscow Church.”

According to Huz, “it is clear to everyone that the UOC MP is subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church,” accusing it of the fact that “in many churches Patriarch Kirill is still commemorated.”
“Therefore, there can definitely be no Moscow Church in the new Ukraine after our victory,” Huz declared. He also spoke about a meeting with Epiphanius Dumenko, with whom “we discussed this process” (the transfer of UOC communities to the OCU – Ed.).

February 7, 2023 Huz appealed to the newly appointed head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Vasyl Maliuk, demanding harsher tools to combat the “fifth column in cassocks.”

“It is necessary to intensify the fight against the fifth column in cassocks and find tougher instruments to counter the psychological operation that Russia is spreading on social media. <…> The fifth column in cassocks has ‘relaxed’ and is regaining strength. The fight against Moscow’s influence in churches must unquestionably continue, because if a Russian core remains there, it will continue to work against Ukraine and its people,” the MP stated during a parliamentary session.

The member of the “For the Future” parliamentary group praised the authorities for nearly destroying the information space and changing the political situation (around the Church – Ed.), but urged the SBU to act more harshly. During Huz’s speech, SBU head Vasyl Maliuk nodded in full agreement with the MP’s demands.

February 13, 2023 Huz promised OCU supporters to help seize the Ascension Church of the UOC in Novovolynsk.

This was reported by the rector of the church, Archpriest Viktor Melnyk.

The priest stated that on February 11, 2023, local residents held a meeting at which about 40 people allegedly voted to transfer the Ascension Church to the OCU.

According to him, neither parishioners nor clergy of the church participated in that vote.

At the same time, the following day the community of the Ascension Church held its own meeting, at which 365 people unanimously affirmed their loyalty to the UOC and to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy.

“As far as I know, the OCU now wants to re-register its parish under our church into its jurisdiction. Deputy Huz has already told OCU members that they will help them with this. They already have six churches of their own, but they have no people,” he said. “They want me to leave, but I have been serving in this church for 40 years, since Soviet times. And of course, they want to appoint their own rector.”

The archpriest added that the initiators of the seizure were city council deputy Ruslan Vlodarchyk, assistant to MP Ihor Huz Andriy Bokoch, and city council deputy Oleksandr Pashko.

(Source: SPZh)

May 10, 2023 Ihor Huz sent appeals to the Minister of Culture and the Head of the Volyn Regional State Administration, calling for the termination of lease agreements with the UOC for the building complexes of the Zymne and Nyzkynychi Monasteries located in Volodymyr District, as well as the Assumption Cathedral in the city of Volodymyr.

The MP made this statement while receiving an order from OCU head Epiphanius Dumenko during the latter’s “service” in Volodymyr, according to bug.org.ua.

“Today many people in Volodymyr still have not realized that one must be Ukrainian and belong to the Ukrainian church,” Huz said. “I think that all of us together must help them realize this. And for this process to proceed somewhat faster, I have formalized a parliamentary appeal to the Minister of Culture and to the Head of the Regional Administration so that they terminate the lease agreements for Zymne Monastery, Nyzkynychi Monastery, and the Assumption Cathedral—just as was done with the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.”

According to the MP, he proposed that “a commission inspect these state-owned structures, place them on the state balance, and, with the will of the Almighty, subsequently make the right decisions.”

Huz also expressed hope that in the near future Dumenko would “serve” in all three shrines.

“I think that everyone present here and thousands of believers of our church and true Ukrainians will do everything possible, peacefully or otherwise, to make this happen in the near future,” Huz added.

September 11, 2023 The MP demanded that the leadership of the Volyn Regional Military Administration not extend lease agreements with UOC churches and monasteries.

Huz published a video appeal containing threats of a “social explosion” addressed to the head of the Volyn RMA, Yurii Pohuliaiko.

In particular, Huz stated that “we must all understand that Mr. Pohuliaiko’s position may become the cause of an explosion in society, when the issue of the presence of the Moscow Patriarchate in shrines will be resolved in a completely different way, not a legal one.”

“This is bad, in my view, and I urge you not to ignore the people’s demand, Mr. Pohuliaiko. I want to warn you: the lease agreement for the Assumption Cathedral expires in June 2024. If, during the war, you dare to extend it for another 50 years, I am sure the public will prove to you that this cannot be done,” the MP said.

Earlier, Huz and 46 other deputies initiated inspections of shrines in the region, including the Assumption Cathedral in Volodymyr and two UOC monasteries—Zymne and Nyzkynychi.

Huz was dissatisfied with the inspection results, believing that the governor was “covering up” and lobbying UOC interests in the region, as the commission established by his order found no violations of lease conditions or building maintenance that would justify terminating the agreements.

According to Huz, “Pohuliaiko is covering up the Moscow Church in Volyn and is doing everything possible not to start inspections of shrines where, according to preliminary data, there are violations.”

He claims that the head of the RMA “is looking for ways to keep religious buildings, which should be strongholds of the Ukrainian church, in Moscow’s hands. In my opinion, this is a disgraceful position.”

The MP demanded the creation of a special commission composed of “patriots, activists, historians, local lore experts, cultural figures, journalists, people with different viewpoints who care about preserving the region’s historical heritage.”

According to him, former Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko supported the creation of a new “more effective commission,” but, Huz claims, the regional administration is in no hurry to establish it.

As a result, the UOC continues to use the specified sites, which, in the deputy’s opinion, is absolutely unacceptable.

October 19, 2023 From the parliamentary rostrum, Huz called for voting in favor of draft law No. 8371 aimed at banning the UOC.

A video of this speech was posted by the Rada TV channel.

Justifying his appeal, the MP stated that anyone who does not press the “yes” button may consider themselves a supporter of Moscow. “There is no other option! The time has come to stop the activities of Moscow agents,” he emphasized.

Huz also stated that deputies “together closed Moscow channels, shut down Moscow parties, and now the last Moscow outpost here remains—the Russian Church. And everyone here knows this.”

That day, the MP voted for the anti-church law.

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February 29, 2024 A group of Verkhovna Rada deputies raised before the Minister of Justice the issue of enforcing a court decision regarding the demolition of the Desiatynnyi Monastery of the UOC in Kyiv.

One of the initiators of the appeal, MP Ihor Huz, wrote about this on his Facebook page.

The MP used overt hate rhetoric.

“Almost half a year has passed since the court decision! And the ‘MAF-church’ is still standing,” the parliamentarian complained. “Together with my fellow deputies (including myself—22 deputies), I addressed the Minister of Justice with the question: when will the court decision finally be enforced? When will the outpost of the aggressor country in the very center of Ukraine’s capital be dismantled?!”

According to Huz, “the territory near the Ukrainian religious monument—the Church of the Tithes—must be free of any MAFs of the Moscow Church.”

April 26, 2024 Huz stated that he had collected 21 signatures in the Verkhovna Rada to ensure that the state would not extend the lease agreement for the cathedral of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the UOC.

The building complex includes, in addition to the Assumption Cathedral, the diocesan administration premises and the Volodymyr-Volyn Theological School.

“Twenty-one people’s deputies supported my appeal to prevent the extension of the lease of the UOC MP Assumption Cathedral in Volodymyr! The appeal with MPs’ signatures has been sent to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, and especially to the Head of the Volyn Regional Military Administration Yurii Pohuliaiko, who has long been noticed lobbying the interests of the UOC MP in Volyn. So to remind him that the country is at war with Russia, and the MP is the hand of the Russian church in Ukraine,” the MP explained.

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March 11, 2025 The North-Western Court of Appeal in Rivne ruled to dismiss the appeal of the Assumption Cathedral community of the UOC in Volodymyr against the decision of the Commercial Court to return the church building to the state.

Huz called the court decision a “victory,” after which, in his words, it is necessary to “forever evict Moscow priests” from the Assumption Cathedral.

“This is an interim but very important victory. Ahead are the Zymne and Nyzkynychi monasteries, which, unfortunately, still remain centers of the ‘Russian world’ in the Volodymyr region,” Huz stated.

March 20, 2025 The MP stated that after he “puts a bold full stop” on the issue of the Assumption Cathedral of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the UOC—evicting believers from their shrine by force if necessary—he will move on to rural Assumption monasteries.

Huz said that in the near future the state would complete the procedure of expropriating the cathedral. In his view, believers would leave peacefully; otherwise, the deputy threatened to involve several hundred people from “patriotic civil society” to ensure the transfer of the cathedral to the state and the OCU.

Asked by a journalist what would happen to the Zymne women’s monastery and the Nyzkynychi men’s monastery in Volyn Oblast, he replied that “first we will put a bold full stop on the Holy Assumption Cathedral issue, and then everything is very simple.”

“To start the same process with the two monasteries in question, it is necessary to cancel the orders of the previous head of the regional administration, Mr. Pohuliaiko, who extended the lease agreements for more than fifty years. This requires legal decisions, including from the leadership of the Volyn Regional Administration. We will talk about this a little later, but definitely,” the MP stated.

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October 8, 2025 During a session of the Verkhovna Rada, MP Ihor Huz called on President Zelenskyy to facilitate the expulsion of the UOC from the Assumption Cathedral in Volodymyr, using offensive rhetoric toward the clergy.

“Moscow priests are not above the law! The state must enforce the court decision,” Huz said, claiming that the Metropolitan of Volodymyr-Volyn and Kovel had “threatened” not to leave the cathedral.

“Now the question is to throw the Moscow priests out of this shrine,” Huz stated, urging Zelenskyy to assist.

“I appeal to the President to give a clear instruction to law enforcement agencies, the enforcement service, and the military administration to calmly and lawfully return state property,” the MP said, although his earlier statements hardly indicate an intention to act “calmly.”

Huz also warned that if the state does not enforce the decision itself, the community will do so, effectively threatening vigilantism. He also expressed confidence that the Assumption Cathedral would be transferred to the OCU.

November 4, 2025 From the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada, Huz appealed to the National Security and Defense Council and the Security Service of Ukraine, demanding the termination of long-term lease agreements under which the Zymne and Nyzkynychi monasteries in Volyn are used by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

December 18, 2025 In Volodymyr, MP Ihor Huz announced the expulsion of the UOC community of the Assumption Cathedral from the Volodymyr chapel, where parishioners pray after being expelled from their native church.

According to Huz, he initiated appeals to the Prosecutor General’s Office and local authorities “so that the Moscow Church is evicted from this religious building in the near future.”

He expressed hope that he and his colleagues would soon hear Ukrainian-language worship in the chapel built by Russian Emperor Alexander III.

“I hope that the process of freeing our state, Volyn, and Volodymyr from this Moscow religious web will continue further,” Huz stated.