Oleg (Ivan) Yaremenko

Oleg (Ivan) Yaremenko

Date of birth: 12.09.1967

Head of the Cherkasy and Chyhyryn Eparchy of the OCU, Head of the Synodal Administration of the Military Clergy of the OCU

Ivan Yaremenko systematically takes part in a large-scale campaign of crimes against believers and clergy of the UOC.

Heading the Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC-KP, Yaremenko has repeatedly distinguished himself with the rhetoric of hatred against Orthodox Christians.

Since the creation of the OCU, Yaremenko has led the process of raider seizures of churches in the Cherkasy region. The leader of the Cherkasy Eparchy of the OCU is the de facto a curator of large-scale falsifications of documents for the UOC churches and brutal assaults on churches.

On December 27, 2017, the notorious «Myrotvorets» website, which was caught illegally publishing personal data of Ukrainian citizens and foreigners and scandalized Ukraine in front of the UN, was highly praised by the Kiev Patriarchate.

The chairman of the military clergy department of the UOC-KP, Metropolitan Ioann Yaremenko, congratulated on the day of counterintelligence "the staff of the Center for the Study of Signs of Crimes against the National Security of Ukraine, Peace, Security of Mankind and International Law and Order" and, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Filaret of Kyiv and All Rus-Ukraine, presented the staff of the Center "Peacemaker" with the medal "For Sacrifice and Love for Ukraine"," the Synodal Department of the Military Clergy of the UOC KP reports on his Facebook page.

At the same time, Ioann Yaremenko noted in his congratulatory message that "Ukrainians are thirsty for the truth so that they can always be satiated with this truth when they visit the Myrotvorets website."

On August 15, the same "Metropolitan" John consecrated the icon "The All-Seeing Eye of God" for the "Myrotvorets", endowing it "by our faith and by Divine grace" with special properties.

Earlier, the name of the abbot of the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra Metropolitan Vladimir was included in the "Purgatory" section on the "Peacemaker" website for calling on believers to "persuade not by force of arms, but by the power of words."

On May 11, 2016, "Myrotvorets" published the full personal data, addresses and phone numbers of several thousand journalists from all over the world, which caused an international scandal. On September 12, 2017, the UN called on Ukraine to urgently investigate the website "Myrotvorets"’s activities, welcoming the fact that the National Police opened criminal proceedings on the site's activities in August 2014.

(Source: UOJ)

On August 13, 2023, in Cherkasy, representatives of the OCU organized their first "liturgy" in the Sretenskaya Church taken away from the community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The service was conducted by the diocese’ head Ioann Yaremenko, the "rector" of the seized church Dmitry Kuzmich appointed by him and other OCU employees.

At the end of the service, Mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko congratulated those present on the "important event in Cherkasy" and presented the church with an icon.

Yaremenko at that moment was actually on the territory of someone else's private property.

(Source: UOJ)

On November 25, 2023, Yaremenko held a press conference dedicated to the scandalous forcible seizure of the UOC monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God, during which bandits in camouflage and with cold weapons climbed over the fence of the temple and brutally beat of the temple’s clergy and parishioners.

Despite the fact that the video of the massacre was widely shared on social networks and caused a negative reaction even within the OCU itself, Yaremenko said that there was no beating, and this "power wing of the Moscow church" beat up peaceful parishioners of the OCU who wanted to get into their church.

"All the reproaches that there was allegedly some kind of beating by the OCU representatives are not true. On Monday (November 20, the day of the seizure - Ed.), there was a self-defense of parishioners who defended themselves from throwing these persons into a fight," Yaremenko said and listed the injured clergy and parishioners of the UOC, calling their severe fractures and injuries, "as they say, beatings."

"They themselves rushed to fight and beat the parishioners of this community (OCU - Ed.)," the "hierarch" assured. At the same time, he called 76-year-old parishioner Oleg Slobodyanik, whose leg was broken in two places by "peaceful parishioners of the OCU" and deprived of sight in one eye, "a force group preventing crossings."

As a result of the brutal beating of the "believers of the OCU", four people were hospitalized. In addition to Slobodyanyk, the bandits broke the jaw of Priest Sergiy Pashchenko in two places. Reader Vyacheslav Korkots got a concussion, another parishioner has a lacerated wound to his hand.

(Source: UOJ)

On September 30, 2024, information was published about a falsified document on the basis of which OCU supporters intend to seize the St. Michael's Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Cherkasy.

Attempts to apply the standard raider scheme were unsuccessful, since the previously deceased Cherkasy and Kaniv Metropolitan Sophrony registered the cathedral as the property of the UOC Cherkasy Eparchy, which made it impossible to transfer the temple to the jurisdiction of the OCU. In particular, supporters of the OCU were unable to falsify data about the parish, for example, to create a fictitious community of the OCU "Nativity of Christ".

In response, the head of the Cherkasy Eparchy of the OCU, Ivan Yaremenko, created a new legal entity called "St. Michael's Garrison Community of the Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC-(OCU) of Cherkasy city", registered at the same address where the cathedral is located. This scheme can be used to seize the cathedral, which calls into question the legality of such actions.

(Source: UOJ)

On October 28, 2024, it turned out that Yaremenko participated in a gross provocation against Cherkasy and Kaniv Metropolitan Theodosius of the UOC, in order to incite hatred against the bishop.

The press service of the Cherkasy Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church accused the OCU representatives of trying to discredit Cherkasy and Kaniv Metropolitan Theodosius, referring to a recent video published on the resources of the OCU. In a video filmed in the metropolitan's office, the head of the Cherkasy diocese of the OCU, Yaremenko, resorted to outright lies and manipulations to compromise the bishop.

The UOC diocese said that Yaremenko brought books mentioning "Russia" to the office and laid them out to create a negative image of the metropolitan. However, according to the press service, the books were equipped with a seal that does not belong to the diocese. Instead of the usual seal "Library of the Diocesan Administration", these books had the stamp of the legal entity of the Foundation of the Holy Martyr Daniel Mliyevsky.

According to the UOC, this stamp was stolen from the office of Bishop Anthony, head of the Foundation of the Holy Martyr Daniel Mliyevsky, during the first assault on the Archangel Michael Cathedral. The invaders used it to forge evidence and create a false impression of the activities of Metropolitan Theodosius.

(Source: UOJ)

On December 2, 2024, Cherkasy and Kaniv Metropolitan Feodosiy published evidence of the theft of liturgical objects of the UOC committed by Yaremenko.

Cherkasy Metropolitan Theodosius said in an interview with the Greek resource "Romfea" that after the seizure of the Cathedral of the Archangel, it was looted by the "clergy" of the OCU.

An OCU 'Metropolitan' Ivan Yaremenko, immediately after the forcible seizure, posed for the public in my office, personally looting my library. He did it without any shame, and then posted his video on the Internet. Now this Yaremenko is "serving" in the captured cathedral, using the vestments of our clergy, my personal staffs, dikirion and trikirion, church utensils," said Metropolitan Feodosiy.

He recalled that the UOC cathedral seized by Yaremenko's wards, as well as the complex of buildings of the diocesan administration with all their contents, "is the private property of our diocese as a legal entity with the appropriate property documents."

"We also have a State Act on land for the land plot under our church complex," the metropolitan emphasized.

Nevertheless, according to the bishop, in the events of the seizure he was most struck not by the fact of an obvious violation of the right to private property.

(Source: UOJ)

On April 10, 2025, Yaremenko announced the illegal entry of OCU activists into the St. Andrew's Bishop's Courtyard of the UOC in Cherkasy.

In a comment to the publication "18000", the criminal said that his groups would enter the territory of the temple after the Easter holiday.

"Holy Week is coming, then Bright Sunday, and after Bright Sunday we will enter our churches, regardless of how Moscow priests will react. Our communities are categorical," he said.

Yaremenko deliberately spread false information that the temple allegedly belongs to his structure.

(Source: 18000)

On April 25, 2025, "Ukrinform" published an interview with Yaremenko, in which he spread false information.

The interview with Yaremenko is illustrated with a photo in which he is sitting in the captured administration of the UOC Cherkasy Eparchy. The criminal occupies the office where Cherkasy and Kaniv Metropolitan Feodosiy worked.

An employee of "Ukrinform" asks Yaremenko about 2 UOC churches, which OCU raiders are planning to take away from Christians.

Ownership of both churches originally belonged and still belongs to the UOC Cherkasy Eparchy. The standard raider scheme failed not to take them away from the Yaremenko’s criminal group.

In fact, he declares that private property is an "ephemeral issue."

"Well, it's up to lawyers to determine the property ownership of churches. But churches are not built for dioceses, but for the people who live there – in this neighborhood, in this city, in the village... Therefore, from the point of view of people who see these churches every day, they are churches of communities. And therefore the community has the right to decide to whom they belong."

At the same time, the documents on the ownership of the temple indicate its owners.

(Source: Project "DOZOR on the First Cossack" channel)

On May 29, 2025, in the captured UOC St. Andrew's Cathedral the in Cherkasy, the OCU "Metropolitan", Ivan Yaremenko, held a "service" with the participation of the Cherkasy city mayor Bondarenko, the secretary of the city council Y. Trenkin, as well as "parishioners", some of whom were without crosses.

The Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC stressed that the staff with which Yaremenko posed in the temple is the property of the Cherkasy Metropolitan Feodosiy. Yaremenko stole it along with other liturgical items during the seizure of the UOC Cathedral of St. Michael's in November 2024.

"He is not ashamed. But where are the law enforcement officers who, according to the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, must protect us from thieves?" the diocese wrote.

The diocese also published a photo of the UOC service in St. Michael's Cathedral before its capture by militants from the OCU with the comment: "Everything you see in this photo was recently stolen by the OCU. Now their leader Yaremenko openly uses this. Stolen: Cathedral, sticharions, ripides, primikirion, staff, dikirion, trikirion."

(Source: UOJ)

At the end of June 2025, a court in the Cherkasy region ordered the police to open criminal proceedings against the head of the OCU Cherkasy department, Ivan Yaremenko.

According to the Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC, on the eve of Easter, Yaremenko publicly announced his intention to take control of the St. Andrew's Bishop's Cortyard of the UOC in Cherkasy. Already on May 6, 2025, the temple was seized. Human rights activists see in Yaremenko's actions signs of violation of Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - deliberate actions aimed at inciting religious enmity and hatred.

Representatives of the UOC filed a corresponding application, but the police ignored the appeal. After that, the believers appealed to the court, which decided to oblige law enforcement officers to open a case.

On May 29, on the feast of the Ascension, Yaremenko held a "liturgy" in the captured St. Andrew's Church. The service was attended by the mayor of Cherkasy Anatoly Bondarenko, the secretary of the city council Yuri Trenkin and a group of people, some of whom, according to the UOJ, were gathered according to the order. Many of those present were without crosses and without the prescribed appearance for an Orthodox service.

The Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC stressed that no community "transferred to the OCU" has ever existed in this church. Yaremenko and the local authorities simply registered the new structure, rewriting the property of the UOC to it.

Particular outrage was caused by the fact that Yaremenko served with the stick of the UOC Metropolitan Theodosius - stolen earlier during the seizure of St. Michael's Cathedral in October 2024. At that time, the episcopal panagias, ripides, vestments and the church treasury were also stolen.

"He does not even hide the stolen goods, but defiantly goes out with them to people, as if saying: "I stole, and what will you do to me?" And Metropolitan Theodosius has only Christ," the diocese said.

It should be noted that earlier the Sosnovsky District Court in Cherkasy accused the Cherkasy department of the OCU of trying to put pressure on the judge conducting another case - against the priest of the UOC. The court qualified the actions of the OCU as interference in the administration of justice.

(Source: UOJ)