Metropolitan Volodymyr (Viktor Sabodan): Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (1992–2014)

Viktor Markianovich Sabodan (took the ecclesiastical name Metropolitan Volodymyr, sometimes rendered as Vladimir; Russian: Виктор Маркианович Сабодан — Russian; Ukrainian: Віктор Маркіянович Сабодан — Ukrainian; 23 November 1935 – 5 July 2014) was a senior clergyman of the Orthodox Church and a leading figure in the religious life of Ukraine.

Career

Known in church circles as Metropolitan Volodymyr, Sabodan served as the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). He led the church from 1992 until his death in 2014, a period during which he was the senior hierarch for Orthodox faithful aligned with the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine.

Death

Sabodan died on 5 July 2014 at the age of 78. Reports indicated the immediate cause was internal bleeding.