Tochytskyi dismissed from Minister of Culture post
Tochytskyi held a hardline position on fighting the UOC.
On 15 July 2025, the government dismissed Mykola Tochytskyi from his post as Minister of Culture. This was reported by MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak.
“So, the ‘Government of second choices’ or ‘A big shuffle-and-a-bit-of-unification,’” Zhelezniak wrote about the large-scale changes in the government. According to him, Tochytskyi is “definitely losing the post” and will be appointed to one of the diplomatic positions.
Mykola Tochytskyi served as minister for less than a year. He was appointed on 5 September 2024. During this time he became known for several controversial actions and statements.
As previously reported by the UOJ, in October 2024, the minister met with Dumenko and Zoria to discuss combating the “Russian World.” Under Tochytskyi, a scandalous cooking show was held in the Lavra, stirring Ukrainian society, along with a performance by a folk dance troupe.
By Tochytskyi’s order, the Ministry of Culture created a commission of anthropologists and veterinarians to study the relics of the Venerable Fathers of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. When dismissing Maksym Ostapenko from the post of director of the Lavra reserve, Tochytskyi declared that Ostapenko had been weak in fighting the “Moscow spirit.”
