There is an ongoing conflict with the "Honorary Patriarch" Filaret for whom the eparchy of Kyiv City was reserved, with its seat in St. Volodymyr Cathedral.

The Ruthenian archdiocese of Kiev is first mentioned in 891, as the 60th by rank of honor in the list of departments subordinate to the Patriarch of Constantinople, and 61st in the charter of Emperor Leo (886-911).

In reality, the eparchy's history starts with the Metropolis of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia which was erected in 1620 and was absorbed by Moscow in 1722, or, as the Russian Orthodox Church would have it, was "transferred" from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to the Patriarchate of Moscow.

This lasted until the middle of the century, when the decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna elevated it once again to the rank of metropolis.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the diocese of Kyiv consisted of two parts: one on either bank of the Dnieper River, each of which were subsequently ceded to the provinces of Chernihiv and Poltava.