The prayer, titled “For Holy Rus”, was devised and initially recited by Gundyaev in September 2022. It beseeches a Russian victory in the conflict with Ukraine.

Archpriest Uminsky has been an outspoken critic of the war, urging the faithful to find congregations that emphasize prayers for peace. His refusal to recite the Patriarch's war-themed prayer led to his defrocking. Similarly, Priest Ioann Koval faced a service ban in February 2023 for substituting the word "victory" with "peace" in the same prayer.

The verdict was passed in Uminsky's absence, which was his third non-attendance. The rules permit making a decision in the defendant's absence under such circumstances.  The verdict states that “Based on Rule 25 of the Holy Apostles, Father Alexey Uminsky is subject to expulsion from the priesthood for violating the priestly Oath (perjury) — refusing to fulfill the Patriarchal blessing to read the prayer for Holy Rus during the Divine Liturgy." Approximately 12,000 people have petitioned the Patriarch for Uminsky's reinstatement.

Following Uminsky's removal, Andrey Tkachev, a pro-war preacher known for his exhortations to the Russian military to bombard Ukraine while praying, was appointed as the head of the church in Khokhly. Tkachev, a native of Lviv, Western Ukraine, graduated from the Suvorov Military School in Moscow and attended the Military Institute of the USSR's Ministry of Defense before being expelled. He subsequently joined the Kyiv Theological Academy but was again expelled due to chronic absenteeism. Tkachev relocated to the Russian Federation in 2014.