Does a video featuring men playing drums in a cathedral depict "pests" from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine taking over Kyiv's St. Volodymyr's Cathedral for a demonic disco event? No, that's not true: The video was recorded at the Ivano-Frankivsk Holy Resurrection Cathedral, a Ukrainian Greek-Catholic church, not at the St. Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv, which is part of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The video shows the Lviv Theological Seminary orchestra's visit.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on January 21, 2024, on TikTok by @viktoriasserbia8. The caption (translated from Russian to English by Lead Stories staff) read:
Zelenskyy's pests from the self-proclaimed Orthodox Church of Ukraine seized the Kyiv St. Volodymyr's Cathedral and organized a demonic disco event there. Slavic man, don't be silent.
This is how the post appeared on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Monday, Jan 29 11:34:31 2023 UTC)
On January 22, 2024, this video, which is no longer available, appeared on the official Facebook page of Belarus state media SB.Belarus Today with the following text (as translated):
Schismatics have started organizing these peculiar concerts. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the St. Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv is making various attempts to win over the congregation that does not recognize them. What comes next?
Lead Stories found no information about such concerts on the official website of St. Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv when searching for "Музичний концерт" site:katedral.org.ua (archived here) on January 29, 2024.
A reverse image search (archived here) on the same day revealed the video was not shot in St. Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv (archived here), but in a Ukrainian Greek-Catholic church (archived here) -- the Ivano-Frankivsk Holy Resurrection Cathedral (archived here, and here).
The information available on the official website (archived here) of the Catholic church reveals that the video in question was filmed on January 14, 2024. It captures the Lviv Theological Seminary orchestra (archived here) visiting the Ivano-Frankivsk Cathedral. The footage shows orchestra members performing carols for parishioners, church guests and clergy with a variety of musical instruments, following the Divine Liturgy.
Lead Stories has contacted Ivano-Frankivsk and St. Volodymyr's Cathedrals for comments and will update this article if a response is received.
Additionally, a search for the phrase "Kyiv's St. Volodymyr's Cathedral disco event" (archived here) conducted on January 29, 2024, using Google News' index of credible news sites did not yield any evidence-based reports on this claim.
In May 2022, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church declared (archived here) "complete independence" from Russia.
