Illegal actions by the Kiev regime targeting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), its clergy and parishioners (Report of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation)

REPORT
of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation

Illegal actions by the Kiev regime targeting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC),
its clergy and parishioners

(as of November 30, 2024)

Moscow 2025

Contents

Introduction

Section 1. Ukraine’s discriminatory laws targeting the UOC

Section 2. The illegal actions by Ukrainian security services and law enforcement against the UOC

Section 3. Actions by Ukrainian local authorities and self-government bodies against the UOC

Section 4. Seizures of UOC churches and illegal re-registration of communities

Section 5. Pressure exerted by national and regional authorities on major UOC monasteries

Section 6. Hate speech, unprovoked aggression and violence against the UOC clergy and believers

Section 7. US’s influence on the church crisis in Ukraine

Section 8. Response of the international community

Introduction

The Kiev authorities have been pursuing a policy of liquidating the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in Ukraine for years, discriminating against its clergy, persecuting clergymen and believers, and forcing believers to convert to the artificially created schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). The country's legislative system and the actions of the authorities and law enforcement agencies are designed to fulfil this goal.

The persecution of the canonical Orthodox Church gathered momentum in 2022 in line with the political transformation of the Kiev regime. The conditions it created following the introduction of martial law allowed it to develop a strictly authoritarian system of government marked by monopoly on power, extrajudicial reprisals, total censorship and state propaganda, the elimination of independent media and political opposition, and active search for “traitors” and alleged Russian spies and subversives.

The ruling regime, which embraced the ideology and practice of far-right Ukrainian nationalists, actually turned into a neo-Nazi dictatorship. Acting in this paradigm, Kiev is pursuing a policy of forced Ukrainization in all spheres of public life, including religion.

It is notable that the developments in Ukraine are part of the general picture of the systemic crisis of global Orthodoxy caused by the policy of the Constantinople Patriarchate, the United States and other Western countries, which are inciting schism. The Kiev authorities and the West are trying to create a divide between the Russian and Ukrainian people and destroy the spiritual affinity of Orthodox believers in both countries despite the UOC’s proclamation of independence from the Moscow Patriarchate. The schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine was created as a counter to the canonical UOC in 2018, In 2019, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople signed the tomos that officially recognised the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and granted it autocephaly (self-governorship), in violation of the norms of canon law.

A legal framework was formed and is being expanded to facilitate the elimination of the UOC. On December 1, 2022, the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine (NSDC) adopted a decision aimed at curtailing the rights of UOC communities. The decision approved a number of measures, such as:

developing in the Cabinet of Ministers a draft law to ban the UOC;
ratcheting up pressure on it by Ukrainian special services;
depriving it of the right to use the churches of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, which is Ukraine’s most ancient and largest monastery;
imposing “sanctions” on its bishops.

The decision was approved by President Zelensky's executive order of December 1, 2022. His executive orders of December 11 and 20, 2022, approved a list of “sanctions” on 14 UOC bishops. “Sanctions” mean a ban on economic activities of an individual and actual seizure of their property in Ukraine.

According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), over 100 criminal cases have been initiated against UOC clergymen, warrants to appear in court were sent to 50 hierarchs and clergymen, and verdicts of guilty have been brought in against 26 of them between February 2022 and late August 2024. Another 19 clergymen have been stripped of Ukrainian citizenship for “pro-Russia propaganda.”

The most glaring example of arbitrariness was the adoption of Law No. 3894 On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Activities of Religious Organisations, which Verkhovna Rada adopted on August 20, 2024. That law provided a legal instrument for banning the UOC in Ukraine. The canonical church, which has millions of parishioners, can be liquidated and its property confiscated if the authorities find “proof” of its affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church. It can be easily assumed that in light of rampant arbitrariness in Ukraine, the Kiev regime will look for the smallest “evidence” and “proof” allowing it to do away with the UOC.

In addition, the Kiev regime’s efforts include forceful seizures of churches and monasteries, illegal re-registration of communities, encouragement of hate speech, unmotivated aggression and violence against the UOC clergy and believers.

Multilateral universal organisations have for the most part remained blind and deaf to the facts of the Kiev regime persecuting the canonical UOC. In a broader sense, they also turn a blind eye to a significant array of information and reports about widespread human rights violations in Ukraine. In fact, international entities, including the ones enjoying the greatest credibility, such as the UN and its leadership, have not unequivocally condemned violations by the Kiev regime of its international legal obligations in the sphere of human rights and the crimes it has committed, in effect sending signals of total impunity to Kiev.

This report is divided into eight sections and is an updated version of the Foreign Ministry’s report on illegal actions by the Kiev regime targeting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), its clergy and parishioners, dated July 25, 2023. It presents facts and circumstances gathered from various sources that show the full extent of political lawlessness in Ukraine and legal arbitrariness towards the UOC, the gross systematic violation of the rights of Orthodox Christians by the Kiev regime, and the reactions of some international human rights organisations. The additional Section 7 covers the US’s influence on the church crisis in Ukraine.

Section 1. Ukraine’s discriminatory laws targeting the UOC

The enactment by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the aforementioned contentious Law No. 3894 on August 20, 2024, was preceded by the establishment of a discriminatory legislative framework, in various forms, targeting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The proponents openly acknowledged that their objective was to infringe upon the rights of the communities and adherents of this denomination, forcibly expropriate its property, strip it of its historical and legal appellation, prohibit it from identifying as “Orthodox,” and, ultimately, deny it the ability to function in Ukraine.

Among these laws is Law No. 2662-VIII dated December 20, 2018, titled “On amendments to Article 12 of the law of Ukraine ‘On freedom of conscience and religious organisations’ regarding the names of religious organisations (associations) that are part of the structure of a religious organisation (association), the governing centre (administration) of which is located outside Ukraine in a state recognised by law as having committed military aggression against Ukraine and/or temporarily occupying part of the territory of Ukraine.” This law obliges UOC communities to “reflect in their full name their affiliation with a religious organisation <…> outside Ukraine,” necessitating the inclusion of the “full statutory name” of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), “with the possible addition of the words ‘in Ukraine’.” The law effectively prohibits the UOC from being referred to as “Ukrainian” – despite it being the oldest existing Orthodox religious organisation in the country, uniting millions of Ukrainian citizens. Furthermore, the law imposes discriminatory “restrictions on access for clergy, religious preachers, and instructors” of the UOC to “units, formations, and other military structures of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” along with “other restrictions.” Should these changes not be implemented by the religious community, its charter “shall be deemed invalid to the extent that specifies the full official name of the religious organisation.”

In 2019, by order of the Ministry of Culture, a list of thousands of UOC religious organisations (dioceses, monasteries, and synodal institutions) was published, mandating them to change their names by April 26, 2019. This order was temporarily suspended by a ruling from the Kiev District Administrative Court as an interim remedy to secure the UOC’s lawsuit against the Ministry of Culture. Nevertheless, in May 2023, the case was referred to the Kiev District Administrative Court (KDAC), which reviewed it within six days and dismissed the claim on May 15.

The UOC Legal Department condemned the resumed proceedings as an “attempt to exploit the judicial system to lift the existing prohibition on making changes to the registry and renaming, and to adopt a draft law that would facilitate the unlawful re-registration of not only religious communities but also other UOC institutions in favour of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).” On June 14, the Kiev Metropolis of the UOC lodged an appeal with the 6th Administrative Court of Appeal.

The forced renaming of canonical Orthodox Church communities will not only deprive it of its historical name but will also subsequently enable pressure to be exerted on it through the Ministry of Culture, compelling mass re-registration and subsequently denying it. The revocation of legal entity status for communities will trigger their de facto dissolution and state confiscation of property.

Law No. 2673-VIII dated January 17, 2019, “On amendments to certain laws of Ukraine (regarding the subordination of religious organisations and the procedure for state registration of religious organisations with the status of a legal entity),” overhauls religious registration rules, establishes the procedure for their transition to another denomination, and mandates their re-registration in compliance with these requirements.

According to the law, the decision to “change subordination” of a religious organisation (i.e., to transition to another denomination or church jurisdiction) is to be made by a two-thirds majority vote of the members of the religious community. However, the law does not delineate clear legal criteria for membership in the community: “Membership in a religious community is based on the principles of free will, as well as the requirements of the charter (regulations) of the religious community.”

Until now, it has not been common for Ukraine’s major Christian denominations to register believers (parishioners) belonging to a specific religious community, considering that there are so many of them. Local authorities can use the vague legal language of the new law to seize UOC churches in the following manner:

A sham vote by a secular territorial community in a given area, be it a city or a village, can be presented as a vote by a religious community. Quite often most of the local residents are absent during these votes while people belonging to other denominations or complete strangers show up, or these votes take the form of collecting signatures when verifying their authenticity is impossible. In some cases, the authorities prevented the UOC believers and clerics from attending these so-called referendums held by territorial communities.
The outcome of this sham vote is then presented as a resolution by a UOC religious community, while the resolution adopted by a meeting of parishioners of the actual religious community to define a membership status and express their unwillingness to join the OCU is disregarded. The amendments the true community makes to its constituent document are not registered.
After that, the head of the regional government issues a directive ordering the UOC community as a legal entity to be re-registered as a new OCU community, thereby liquidating the UOC community. Supported by the local authorities, the OCU adepts break into the church and hand it over to their religious community, while any attempt by UOC believers to voice their protests or resist these takeovers are suppressed by force with the involvement of the police and radical organisations. Law enforcement agencies refuse to respond to acts of violence or other offences and disrupts any attempt to carry out a pre-trial investigation.

This law also sets forth several norms introducing illegal obstacles and complicating registration procedures for religious organisations, which runs counter to the applicable Ukrainian laws and the Guidelines on the Legal Personality of Religious or Belief Communities (OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, 2015). This enables the authorities to arbitrarily delay the registration or re-registration of UOC’s religious communities and facilitate church takeovers, as well as to pressure those of them who refuse to do it.

Law No. 3894 “On the protection of the constitutional order in the sphere of activities of religious organisations”

The Kiev regime prepared a legal framework for banning the UOC in advance. On February 1, 2023, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience published the results of an examination of the UOC statute. As expected, they pointed out the UOC’s canonical ties to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). The State Service concluded that the current actions or inaction of the UOC’s supreme authorities and administration show that the UOC remains subordinate to the ROC. The UOC rejected these conclusions as “flagrant manipulation and an attempt to infringe on the right to the freedom of religion.” On July 27, 2023, UOC representatives filed a lawsuit challenging the conclusions of the above examination.

On May 15, 2023, the Kiev District Administrative Court ruled that the UOC had not terminated its ties with the ROC and remained part of it, which can be regarded as sufficient reason for banning the UOC if this decision is supported by higher courts.

On June 26, 2023, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience posted on its website a list of explanations that the UOC was requested to provide to prove its detachment from the ROC. However, experts noted that such explanations would not necessarily encourage the Ukrainian government agencies to lift the restrictions from the canonical church.

Vladimir Zelensky, who personally lobbied for the law, stated that its adoption would “strengthen the spiritual independence” of Ukrainians and “deprive Moscow of its last opportunities for limiting their freedom.” It was reported that Verkhovna Rada deputies were blackmailed to support that shameful initiative. In June 2024, Petr Poroshenko started canvassing for votes for a second hearing of the law after the first attempt to adopt it failed. In July 2024, Irina Gerashchenko, a Verkhovna Rada deputy and active member of Poroshenko’s party, threatened to make public the names of those who refused to support the law and condemned them as “supporters of the Russian aggression.”

The law came into effect on September 23, 2024.

The preamble to that law unequivocally states that support of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine by the Russian Orthodox Church and “the numerous illegal actions of the Russian Orthodox Church and its subordinate religious organisations on the territory of Ukraine pose a threat to national and public security and the rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens.”

Part 2 of Article 2 prohibits the activities of foreign religious organisations that meet the following criteria: 1) are located in a state that is recognised as having carried out or is carrying out armed aggression against Ukraine and/or temporarily occupying part of the territory of Ukraine; 2) directly or indirectly (including through public speeches of leaders or other management bodies) support armed aggression against Ukraine. Foreign religious organisations located in a state recognised as having carried out or carrying out armed aggression against Ukraine and/or temporarily occupying part of the territory of Ukraine include foreign religious organisations (including religious administrations, associations, centres), the management centre (control) of which is located outside Ukraine in the relevant aggressor state.

Part 1 of Article 3 reads: “Considering the fact that the Russian Orthodox Church is an ideological extension of the regime of the aggressor state, an accomplice to war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the name of the Russian Federation and the ideology of ‘Russian World,’ the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine are prohibited.”

Part 2 of Article 3 stipulates the following ban:

“The activity of religious organisations affiliated with a foreign religious organisation, the activity of which is prohibited in Ukraine in accordance with the first part of this article, including directly or as a component of another religious organisation, or in the presence of other signs established by Article 51 of the Law of Ukraine On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organisations, is not allowed and such religious organisations are terminated in accordance with the procedure established by law. The list of religious organisations in Ukraine affiliated (connected by one or more features defined by Article 51 of the Law of Ukraine On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organisations) with a foreign religious organisation the activity of which is prohibited in Ukraine, is approved by an order of the central executive body, which implements state policy in the field of religion and is published on its official website. In the case established by law, the activity in Ukraine of a foreign religious organisation located in a state recognised as having carried out or carrying out armed aggression against Ukraine and/or temporarily occupying a part of the territory of Ukraine, the activity of which is prohibited in Ukraine in accordance with this Law, shall be terminated from the date of entry into force of this Law or the law on making relevant changes to this Law.”

In other words, the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church will face dissolution if the Ukrainian authorities decide that it is affiliated with the ROC.

Therefore, all religious administrations, monasteries, communities, parishes, and educational institutions that operate as separate legal entities must either transition from the UOC to the OCU or face dissolution, if so determined by relevant court rulings.

To implement the law, the Ukrainian authorities have already scheduled a nationwide audit of UOC religious community properties on September 25, 2024.

The intent of the law adopted on August 20, 2024, to integrate the OCU into the canonical church is indirectly supported by the appeal from OCU “Metropolitan” Epiphany to UOC Metropolitan Onufry for church unification, which was published just days earlier, on August 15, 2024.

The support for this law from the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations is also noteworthy. It was approved by the head of the schismatic OCU, the leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the bishop of the Roman Catholic Church, and the chief rabbi of Kiev and Ukraine. However, the council disregarded its own charter, which mandates that all decisions made by consensus require the agreement of all member religious organisations’ leaders or authorised representatives. Notably, representatives of the canonical church, which is part of the council, were not even invited to the meeting where the decision to support the ban on the UOC was made.

Meanwhile, prominent legal experts and international human rights organisations have repeatedly and justifiably criticised this legislative act for its clear violations of the rule of law, its selective approach towards the UOC, the imposition of collective responsibility on believers, and the ambiguous definition of a religious organisation’s “affiliation,” among other issues. The core conclusion is that the law and its specific provisions are inherently unlawful.

On August 22, 2024, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church issued a statement in response to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine’s adoption of a draft law aimed at the dissolution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The statement condemns the law and presents the official stance of the Russian Orthodox Church regarding the situation. It highlights that the draft law’s “initiators and supporters ... openly acknowledge that it specifically targets the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its communities, with the objective of dissolving them or forcibly transferring them to other religious organisations. Hundreds of monasteries, thousands of communities, and millions of Orthodox believers in Ukraine will be pushed outside the legal framework, losing their property and places of worship. Furthermore, in both its scale and centralised execution, this measure may surpass all previous historical repressions against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, including the persecutions during the Brest Greek Catholic Union. It is comparable to tragic historical precedents such as the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire under Nero and Diocletian, the so-called de-Christianisation of France during the French Revolution, the atheist repressions in the Soviet Union, and the destruction of the Albanian Orthodox Church in the 1960s under Enver Hoxha’s regime.”

On August 24, 2024, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia sent messages to the Primates of local Orthodox churches, various religious leaders, and representatives of international organisations, informing them of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine’s adoption of a law aimed at banning the UOC. He urged them to speak out in defence of the persecuted believers.

On October 18, 2024, the Legal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate issued a statement regarding the enactment of Ukraine’s Law No. 3894, providing a well-founded explanation of how this legislation contradicts international legal norms and principles.

Legal experts pointed out that the law primarily establishes an extrajudicial procedure for banning the activities of a religious organisation. Additionally, it contradicts Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine, which stipulates the separation of religious organisations from the state. The law also amends the Code of Administrative Procedure of Ukraine to include a provision stating that if a religious organisation affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church is dissolved, its property will be transferred to the state. At the same time, Article 9 of Ukraine’s Law On the Lease of State and Communal Property has been amended to require state authorities to terminate, ahead of schedule, free-use or lease agreements with religious organisations deemed affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church. In effect, the new law enables the nationalisation of UOC religious organisations’ property if they refuse to change their hierarchical affiliation.

Legal scholars have asserted that the justifications for dissolving religious organisations, as prescribed by the law, are indefensible. According to Article 5, a religious organisation may be dissolved if it propagates the ideology of the “Russian world,” which is defined by the new legislation as a “Russian neo-colonial doctrine” with aims that include, inter alia, “expanding the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church beyond the borders of the Russian Federation.” Essentially, the legislator views the propagation of religious beliefs as a basis for dismantling a religious community. Moreover, the execution of the law’s provisions is primarily assigned to a state executive authority responsible for implementing state policy in the realm of religion. This authority, under the new law, not only recognises a religious organisation as affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church but also regulates “relations, connections, and communications” between religious communities in Ukraine and the Moscow Patriarchate. This evidences the deterioration of Ukrainian legislation on freedom of conscience.

The deliberation and enactment of this law elicited a more vigorous international response than previously, facilitated in part by the informational and explanatory efforts of the Russian Foreign Ministry. For example, during the review of the draft act, the World Council of Churches declared that the legislative measure contravenes international standards of religious freedom and could fragment Ukrainian society. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, during the presentation of a report on Ukraine at the Human Rights Council on December 19, 2023, also described such measures by the Ukrainian authorities as a threat to religious freedom, noting their failure to comply with international law.

Concurrently, international legal experts appealed to US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urging them to convince Vladimir Zelensky not to prohibit the UOC. American attorney Robert Amsterdam from Amsterdam & Partners LLP, representing the interests of the UOC, in correspondence to the aforementioned leaders, characterised the impending prohibition of the UOC as an “overly punitive attack that will cause serious harm to Orthodox Ukrainians.” In May 2024, Robert Amsterdam conveyed to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk a letter enumerating Ukraine’s breaches of the UN Plan of Action to Combat Religious Intolerance.

Subsequent to the enactment of the law, this legal measure was criticised by church leaders across the Christian world, including the heads of the Russian, Serbian, Jerusalem, Bulgarian, Albanian, Macedonian, and Antiochian Orthodox Churches, the Orthodox Church in America, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, as well as Pope Francis.

The 40th quarterly report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), covering June 1 – August 31, 2024, entitled “Treatment of prisoners of war and Update on the human rights situation in Ukraine,” indicates that citing national security considerations as justification for restricting religious freedoms does not align with the provisions of fundamental international human rights documents.

Even those whose partiality towards the Kiev regime is undisputed could not remain silent – Western NGOs such as Human Rights Watch and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom voiced their concerns.

Section 2: The illegal actions of Ukrainian special services and law enforcement against the UOC

One of the most flagrant examples of politically motivated human rights violations during the investigative trial involved several fabricated criminal cases against prominent UOC hierarchs. For instance:

On February 20, 2023, Metropolitan Feodosiy of Cherkasy and Kanev was charged under the article “Violation of the equality of citizens based on their religious beliefs.” The charges against him were based solely on a single internet link to the Moscow Patriarchate’s website, as well as his sermons, highlighting the baselessness of the accusations. On April 12, 2023, the Sosnovsky District Court of Cherkasy imposed a preventive measure on the metropolitan, placing him under round-the-clock house arrest and requiring him to wear an electronic bracelet. Over 1,500 appeals from diocesan faithful requesting that this preventive measure not be applied were disregarded. On June 2, the house arrest was extended, and the request to replace it with a less severe night-time house arrest was denied. Metropolitan Feodosiy described the criminal case against him as “fabricated” and a “political order.” He further stated that the 7 volumes of case materials contained his public speeches from the past decade, in which he criticised the schism.
On April 1, 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted a search at the residence of Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl, the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. On the same day, he received an official notification of suspicion under specific articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In court, he was charged with “Violation of the equality of citizens based on their religious beliefs and justification of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine,” based on remarks he made during a private conversation. In mid-July 2023, Metropolitan Pavel was placed in pre-trial detention and released on August 7, 2023, after posting bail of nearly $1 million, which was raised with the help of over a thousand people. The criminal case against him is still ongoing. Currently, the measure of restraint for Metropolitan Pavel is not house arrest, but rather a series of formal obligations, including surrendering his international passport and appearing at the court’s first request, among others. According to recent statements from Metropolitan Pavel, the investigation exerted pressure on him in an attempt to force him to join the schism.
On May 22, 2023, Metropolitan Longin of Bancheny, who is also the founder and director of a children’s home and holds the title of Hero of Ukraine, was summoned for questioning at the Chernovtsy Police Department. He was charged under the article “Violation of the equality of citizens.” According to the SBU press service, the charges were based on sermons in which he condemned the Ukrainian church schism. During the interrogation, several hundred believers and monks from the Bancheny Monastery gathered outside the police department building for a prayer vigil. The organisers and participants of the protest were pressured by the SBU, receiving summonses to the military registration and enlistment office. In September 2023, the case against him was referred to court. He is accused of “inciting religious hatred” due to his “disparaging” remarks about the OCU. Throughout 2023−2024, the Security Service conducted multiple searches at his monastery, often accompanied by offensive and violent actions towards the abbot.
On August 7, 2023, Metropolitan Ionafan, the 75-year-old head of the Tulchin and Bratslav Diocese of the UOC, was sentenced to five years in prison with property confiscation for “public justification of the armed aggression against Ukraine.” Following negotiations, he was released on June 22, 2024, at the request of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, and arrived in Moscow. Meanwhile, the Vinnitsa Court of Appeal upheld his sentence.
On April 24, 2024, the SBU charged and detained the abbot of the Svyatogorsk Lavra of the UOC, Metropolitan Arseny (Yakovenko), for purportedly breaching Ukrainian law. He was held for two months without the prospect of bail. During a liturgy, he allegedly divulged to the congregation the locations of Ukrainian military checkpoints. An unduly severe preventive measure was imposed on the Metropolitan – detention in custody. The court’s actions appear to undermine his health and pose a threat to his life (the court mandated the defendant’s physical presence at each hearing, notwithstanding the distant location of the pre-trial detention centre from the court, resulting in the defendant being transported and kept in arduous conditions for up to 20 hours without sustenance or water). On December 5, 2024, the court once more disregarded the submissions of members of the Verkhovna Rada, religious organisations, and legal representatives, aligning itself with the prosecution. The detention of Metropolitan Arseniy was extended until February 2, 2025.

Since May 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), in collaboration with other law enforcement entities, has executed over 1,000 searches in monasteries, churches, and administrative premises of UOC dioceses throughout Ukraine under the guise of “counterintelligence measures.” Instances include:

On November 22, 2022, the SBU declared the execution of “counterintelligence measures” on the grounds of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra “as part of the SBU’s systematic endeavours to counteract the subversive activities of Russian intelligence services in Ukraine.” Searches and document verifications were also conducted at the Kiev Zverinets Monastery of the UOC, with three perimeters of security personnel and specialists with service dogs stationed around the site.
On November 25, 2022, the SBU announced that it had undertaken “counterintelligence measures” at the administration and cathedral of the Chernovtsy-Bukovina Diocese of the UOC. According to Metropolitan Meletiy of Chernovtsy and Bukovina, the search was executed with numerous procedural violations (absence of witnesses, denial of access to a lawyer, etc.). All digital media, computers, and mobile phones were confiscated, and some evidence was fabricated or planted by SBU officers during the search. Victims of the search were compelled to undress and were photographed, following which the images were disseminated on social media with offensive, defamatory accusations and remarks.
On November 26, 2022, the SBU conducted a search at the residence of Archbishop Iov of Shumsk, rector of the Pochaev Seminary, and on November 27, at the administration and cathedral of the Ivano-Frankovsk Diocese of the UOC.
On November 30, 2022, in the village of Drachino, Mukachevo District, Transcarpathian Region, the SBU carried out a search at the Cyril and Methodius Monastery of the Mukachevo Diocese of the UOC.
On December 7, 2022, the SBU declared searches “at UOC facilities” in the Cherkasy, Volyn, and Kherson regions. Mentioned were the Chartoryisky and Miletsky Monasteries of the Vladimir-Volyn Diocese; the cathedral of the Kherson Diocese; the cathedral of the Cherkasy Diocese; the administration of the Uman Diocese; the St. George Convent in the village of Kocherzhintsi, Cherkasy Region (Uman Diocese); the St. Andrew’s Church and the Church of St. Sophronius of Irkutsk in Cherkasy; the Trinity Motroninsky Convent (Cherkasy Diocese); the Krasnogorsk Intercession Convent (Cherkasy Diocese); and the Kanev Dormition Cathedral (Cherkasy Diocese).
Between December 10 and 20, 2022, the SBU reported the organisation of “counterintelligence measures” (searches) in dioceses and monasteries of the UOC in Kharkov, Lvov, Transcarpathia, Chernovtsi, Rovno, Volyn, Nikolaev, Sumy, Zhitomir, Kherson, and Odessa regions. These included the Annunciation Cathedral of the Kharkov Diocese; the Kharkov Intercession Monastery; several churches of the Kharkov Diocese in Kharkov and the region; the Ascension Cathedral of the Izyum Diocese; the St George Cathedral of the Lvov Diocese of the UOC; the Trinity Church in Lvov; the Intercession Church in the city of Borislav, Lvov Region; the Uzhgorod Exaltation of the Cross Cathedral of the Mukachevo Diocese; the Zimneye Stauropegion Convent; the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the Romny Diocese; the Korosten Nativity Cathedral (Ovruch Diocese); the Transfiguration Cathedral and administration of the Ovruch Diocese; the Kazan Church in the town of Chernobayevka, Kherson Diocese; the Balta Theodosian Monastery; and the administration of the Balta Diocese.
On December 29, 2022, the SBU announced the implementation of “counterintelligence measures at UOC facilities” in the Krivoy Rog Region. Targets included: Krivoy Rog Diocesan Administration, Krivoy Rog Transfiguration Cathedral, Krivoy Rog St. Vladimir’s Monastery, and St. Nicholas and Iversky Churches in Krivoy Rog. Searches were also conducted in the Khmelnitsky Region at: Shepetovka Diocesan Administration, St. Michael’s Cathedral in Shepetovka, Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery in Gorodishche (Shepetovka District), Righteous Anna Convent in Slavuta, Nativity of the Theotokos Church in Slavuta, Church of the Holy Martyrs Vera, Nadezhda, Lyubov, and Their Mother Sophia in Shepetovka, Cathedral of the Unburnt Bush Icon in Netishyn, and Resurrection Church in Vinkovtsy.
On January 6, 2023, the SBU reported similar “counterintelligence measures at UOC facilities” in the Kherson, Kirovograd, Dnepropetrovsk, and Rovno regions, including: St. John of Kronstadt Church (Kherson Diocese) in Belozerka, Trinity Mezhirich Monastery (Rovno Diocese), and Dnepropetrovsk Diocesan Administration. The claims referenced alleged discoveries of “libraries with pro-Kremlin literature,” “propaganda leaflets,” and “pro-Russian symbols.”

Despite the widespread nature of the raids across all UOC dioceses, the evidence presented to the public consisted mainly of theological, liturgical, and historical texts in the Russian language or fabricated leaflets. In certain instances, materials were planted in the presence of the victims.

On November 23, 2022, during a search at Korets Monastery, SBU officers presented allegedly discovered leaflets containing out-of-context excerpts from Patriarch Kirill’s sermons, provocatively edited to suggest calls against Ukrainian sovereignty. Witnesses observed: “The leaflets were allegedly found in a damp, unheated attic. Everything there – books or paper – becomes mouldy, yet these leaflets were pristine and dry.”
Farther Superior of the Uzhhorod Cathedral Archpriest Dmitry Sidor recounted the details of a search conducted by representatives of the SBU in December 2022. He stated that the investigative actions were undertaken under the guise that the church was allegedly rigged with explosives. Consequently, the officers discovered nothing and assured him that this fact would be documented in their reports. However, upon their departure, one officer presented the rector with a clipping from an old newspaper containing a politically charged article, with certain phrases already highlighted. Additionally, two books published in Moscow and St Petersburg, as well as several publications against Ukrainian autocephaly originating from Greece, were deemed “illegal.”
In the 2022 report by Metropolitan Anthony of Borispol and Brovary, Administrator of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, it was noted that “searches are being conducted in diocesan administrations, churches, and monasteries of our Church, as well as among bishops and clergy, resulting in the appearance of leaflets that never existed, or symbols that could discredit the religious organisation.”
In early June 2024, the SBU dispatched letters to the diocesan bishops of the UOC, demanding that the hierarchs of the canonical church provide data on all churches and properties under the jurisdiction of diocesan administrations, as well as personal data of all individuals responsible for their custody. Additionally, they were ordered to provide information on religious organisations under the jurisdiction of the diocese.
On June 4, 2024, the SBU announced that it had disrupted the distribution channel of “anti-Ukrainian literature” in church shops of the canonical UOC across four cities in the country – Uzhhorod, Zhitomir, Nikolaev, and Kiev. Among the confiscated materials were publications purportedly promoting religious intolerance and justifying Russia’s special military operation.

As a result of these unlawful actions aimed at eliminating obstacles to seizing the largest shrines of the UOC, the authorities are subjecting their rectors, along with other hierarchs and clergy of the canonical church, to repression on fabricated, political grounds. In April 2024, the media quoted the head of the SBU, Vasily Malyuk, stating that 23 UOC priests had been arrested in Ukraine, 37 clergy members had been charged, and criminal proceedings had been initiated against more than 80 ministers of the canonical church. According to him, religious figures are primarily accused of crimes such as inciting interreligious discord and state treason.

On December 9, 2022, the SBU announced that Archbishop Job of Shumsk, rector of Pochaev Seminary, had been charged under Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Violation of equal rights of citizens on the basis of their race, national... affiliation, religious beliefs...” Archbishop Job entered into a plea bargain with the investigation and was sentenced by the Kremenets District Court to a fine for inciting interfaith hatred.
In January 2023, Metropolitan of Kirovograd and Novomirgorod Joasaph and the secretary of the Kirovograd Diocese, Archpriest Roman Kondratyuk, were charged under the article on violation of equal rights of citizens depending on their religious affiliation. The reason was the publication of theological and historical literature against the church schism. The measure of restraint for both was 24-hour house arrest. In May 2023, Metropolitan Joasaph (Guben) and Archpriest Roman Kondratyuk were sentenced to three years in prison with a probation period of 2 years on the charge of inciting religious hate. The convicts are banned from holding leadership positions for a year. They pleaded guilty in order to make a plea bargain with the investigation.
In April 2023, the Uzhgorod City District Court imposed pre-trial restrictions on Archpriest Dmitry Sidor, Father Superior of the Holy Cross Cathedral of the Uzhgorod Diocese, in criminal proceedings on inciting religious hatred: he was ordered to surrender his passport, forbidden to leave the city and to communicate with witnesses in his case. The grounds were sermons in the church on religious topics. Archpriest Dmitry Sidor is accused of inciting religious hatred in connection with calling schismatics “godless” and “Satanists.” He does not plead guilty, his trial continues.
On June 1, 2023, the SBU reported that Metropolitan Vissarion of Ovruch and Korosten was charged under the article on incitement of interreligious hatred. As evidence, the Zhitomir prosecutor’s office showed photos of old leaflets and propaganda materials in defence of the Orthodox faith denouncing the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). According to the prosecutor’s office, Metropolitan Vissarion and the secretary of the Diocesan Administration “since 2017 have been producing and distributing leaflets inciting religious discord and hatred towards OCU believers.”
On July 7, 2023, Archpriest Viktor Talko, Father Superior of the Church of St Michael the Archistratigus in Borodyanka, Kiev Region, was detained on suspicion of “collaborationist activity.” He is accused of helping to evacuate residents of the region to Belarus. He is facing a possible punishment of five years in prison.
On January 12, 2024, the SBU charged Metropolitan Vasily (Porovoznyuk) of Lugansk and Alchevsk with “attending the ceremony at the Kremlin to sign the treaties on the incorporation of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and the Zaporozhye and Kharkov regions into Russia.”
On February 13, 2024, the Dnepropetrovsk Region Court sentenced the father superior of a local church of the UOC diocese to five years in prison for “justifying the Russian aggression.”
In February 2024, Archdeacon Pavel (Muzychuk) of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was accused of “justifying the armed Russian aggression against Ukraine” and arrested. The Solomyansky District Court of the City of Kiev released him later on bail worth 121,000 hryvnias and obliged him to wear an electronic tag. Archdeacon Pavel is an active supporter of canonical Orthodoxy in Ukraine and an opponent of the illegal actions taken to prevent believers from using the churches of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and to expel the monks from the monastery.
In April 2024, Metropolitan Theodosius (Snegirev) was arrested on charges of inciting religious strife (Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Four other charges were later presented to him, including in relation with religious discrimination. Before a court hearing in Cherkassy, Ukrainian activists staged a disgusting and amoral action, placing a Russian flag with the portrait of Patriarch Kirill in the narrow path leading towards the court building. Metropolitan Theodosius refused to step on it and asked for the flag to be removed. However, the nationalists forced him to walk on it towards the court building. On July 8, 2024, he had a heart attack. His relatives and friends believe that it was the result of pressure exerted by the SBU.
On April 12, 2024, the SBU conducted searches and subsequently announced that the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s Department for External Church Relations, Archpriest Nikolay Danilevich, was suspected of violating the law and accused of “justifying the armed Russian aggression” because he allegedly called on the believers to pray for Russians.
On May 1, 2024, the SBU conducted searches in the premises of Metropolitan Luke (Kovalenko) of Zaporozhye and Melitopol on suspicion of “inciting religious hatred.” They allegedly found text messages with prayers for Moscow in his phone. On May 7, 2024, he was sentenced to house arrest and obliged to wear an electronic tag.
On August 1, 2024, the SBU announced the detainment of the father superior of a Kharkov church of the UOC on suspicion of “adjusting fire at critical infrastructure facilities.”
On September 19, 2024, the SBU announced that they suspected the archimandrite of the Vvedensky (Entry of the Most Holy Mother of God into the Temple) Monastery of the UOC of violating the law based on his publications in the social media. He is facing a 5-year prison sentence and the forfeiture of property for “the justification and denial of the Russian aggression.”

In addition to the arrest of many UOC bishops and clerics, there is proof of the disappearance and abduction of clerics, their torture and beatings, forced mobilisation and even death under unclear and unascertained circumstances.

On March 9, 2022, armed men seized and shut down the Dukonya Holy Trinity Monastery in the town of Verkhovina, Ivano-Frankovsk Region. The aged Archimandrite Titus (Drachuk), father superior of the monastery, was beaten up and held captive for several days. The local authorities turned the monastery over to the schismatics. Archimandrite Titus was taken to a neighbouring region, where he was released and prohibited from returning to the Ivano-Frankovsk Region on pain of death.
On March 16, 2022, armed and masked men openly beat up and abducted Archimandrite Laurus (Berezovsky) in the Zhitomir Region. His whereabouts are unknown; it is assumed with a large degree of certainty that he has been killed. Other clergymen have been abducted in other regions of Ukraine, including by members of Ukrainian security agencies.
On April 10, 2022, members of the local government and armed men disrupted a service in the UOC church in the village of Verkhnyaya Yablonka, Lvov Region. The father superior was dragged outside, and the clergymen were ordered to close the church. The parishioners were told that their addresses were known and that they must start attending services at the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church or the [schismatic] Orthodox Church of Ukraine that very week or face “special measures.” The believers turned for help to the local police and SBU departments, which refused to accept their complaints. The same night, armed SBU men abducted dean of the church Archpriest Iliya Urussky, put a bag on his head and interrogated him for nearly 24 hours.
On April 10, 2023, an unidentified person attacked Bishop Nikita of Ivano-Frankovsk and Kolomyia without any provocation, hitting him in the face and on the head and beating him up at the building of the Diocese Administration in Chernovtsy. The man also beat up an underage sub-deacon. The police, who were summoned to the site, refused to register the attack. According to witnesses, the attacker openly told the police about his connection with the SBU.
On May 6, Metropolitan Antony of Borispol and Brovary told believers after a communion service in the Church of St Agapetus in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra that he had been illegally detained at a roadblock at the exit from Kiev in the morning. The police took his passport and kept him at the roadblock for 90 minutes, allegedly because Metropolitan Antony was on the extremist Mirotvorets website. He was told that they were waiting for a security service officer who was supposed to “talk to him.” The Metropolitan got his documents back and was allowed to leave only after a police patrol summoned to the site accepted his statement on the illegal detainment. As a result, Metropolitan Antony failed to attend a service in the Gorodnitsa St George’s Monastery of the Zhitomir Diocese and had to return to the lavra.
On March 14, 2024, the SBU detained and took to an unknown destination Archpriest John Rozman, Secretary of the Khust Diocese of the UOC in the Transcarpathian Region. He was later forced to join the Ukrainian army.
On August 31, 2024, Archimandrite Varlaam (Didenko), Father Superior of the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in the village of Tereblya, Tyachev District of the Transcarpathian Region, was forcefully mobilised into the Ukrainian army.
On October 1, 2024, Father John Polishchuk of the UOC was seized by members of the Territorial Recruitment Centre (TRC) in Kremenets, Ternopol Region, who used physical force and psychological pressure against the priest before sending him to a training ground in Uzhgorod.
On October 8, 2024, TRC members abducted Father John Krys in Kiev and took him to the local mobilisation commission for subsequent dispatch to the front.
On October 25, 2024, Archpriest Pyotr Cholak, dean of the Novovolynsk District of the Vladimir-Volyn Diocese of the UOC, was detained in Lutsk and sent to the army.
On November 2, 2024, Archpriest Oleg Melnik, 54, was forcefully mobilised in the Ternopol Region. He was kept at the local territorial recruitment centre for over a day without food and physically assaulted. It was established after his release that he suffered a broken rib during detention.

Journalists who regularly report on the Kiev regime’s atrocities against the canonical UOC are also subjected to persecution.

In February 2023, journalist and blogger Dmitry Skvortsov, an advocate of canonical Orthodoxy in Ukraine, was detained for “justifying Russian aggression.”
On March 12, 2024, the SBU conducted searches at the editorial office of the Union of Orthodox Journalists, charging fourteen of its employees under various articles of Ukraine’s Criminal Code (“high treason,” “collaborationism,” “creating and participating in a criminal organisation,” “inciting religious enmity and hatred by an organised group”) and detained four of them: Andrey Ovcharenko, Valery Stupnitsky, Vladimir Bobechko, and Archpriest Sergey Chertilin. In August 2024, Sergey Chertilin was released from the Kiev detention centre on bail, followed by Vladimir Bobechko in September, and Andrey Ovcharenko and Valery Stupnitsky in November.
On September 12, 2024, Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection issued an order blocking access to websites covering UOC activities (https://raskolam.net, https://www.dialogtut.org, https://spzh.live). The order did not specify the reasons for the blocking.

Section 3. Actions by Ukrainian local authorities and self-government bodies against the UOC

Local authorities issue recommendations or demands for UOC communities to transition to other confessions. Appeals from self-government bodies (regional and city councils) to Ukraine’s leadership, calling for the prohibition of the UOC, are widespread. In several towns and villages in Western Ukraine, local authorities forcibly close churches, prevent believers from attending services, and implement local “bans on activities” of the UOC. For instance:

The mayor of Konotop, Sumy Region, Artem Semenikhin, issued an order prohibiting UOC activities within the city “as a threat to Ukraine’s national security,” commenting on social media: “There is no difference between an enemy and his agent. In the case of the Moscow Patriarchate, it is two in one. Therefore, I decided to ban the activities of this FSB agent network in my city.”
In May 2022, Alexander Simchishin, mayor of the city of Khmelnitsky, directed to draft an order to terminate land use rights of “hostile religious organisations” with the aim of transferring UOC church plots to the OCU. In September 2022, the Khmelnitsky Regional Council appealed to Ukraine’s leadership, demanding legislative prohibition of the canonical Orthodox Church and “cancellation” of its Charter.
On August 26, 2022, the Ternopol Regional Council resolved to ban UOC activities in the region.
On September 1, 2022, the Volochisk City Council in the Khmelnitsky Region resolved to ban UOC communities’ activities within the city: mass events are prohibited, and they are recommended to either transfer to the OCU or indicate their “affiliation with the Russian Church” in their charters.
The Borispol City Council in the Kiev Region, following the mayor’s proposal, resolved to “suspend activities” of the UOC. Canonical Orthodox Church churches were placed under guard and transferred to a “special operating regime,” with mass events, religious processions, and Sunday school activities prohibited.
On September 29, 2022, the Lutsk District Council supported an appeal by the head of the Volyn Regional Military Administration to Ukraine’s leadership, calling for the prohibition of the UOC, initiating an investigation of its “collaborationist activities,” and transferring the Kiev-Pechersk and Pochaev Lavras to “the Ukrainian people”; it urged the regional military administration leadership to cancel the registration of canonical Orthodox Church communities.
On November 22, 2022, the Gorodishche City Council in the Cherkassy Region resolved to ban UOC activities within the municipality, allegedly “posing a threat to Ukraine’s national security.” Canonical Orthodox Church communities were recommended to “change jurisdiction and begin the unification process with the OCU.”
On November 25, 2022, the Vinnitsa Regional Council resolved to ban UOC activities in the region.
On December 7, 2022, the Zhitomir Regional Council decided to ban the UOC activities in the region and called on local governments to “facilitate” the transfer of the canonical Orthodox Church communities to the OCU.
On December 7, 2022, the City Council of Uman (Cherkasy Region) decided to ban the UOC activities on the territory of the municipality and appealed to the Verkhovna Rada to “ban the ROC and all its structural divisions on the territory of Ukraine.”
In March 2023, the Kiev City Council decided to restrict the holding of “any religious events outside religious buildings” in the Ukrainian capital for “religious organisations <...> having canonical and worship-related ties with the religious organisations of the aggressor country.” The decision was a de facto ban on holding religious processions by the canonical Orthodox Church communities in the city. Also, the relevant departments of the mayor’s office were instructed to conduct an inventory of land plots and communal property leased to or used by religious organisations of the UOC.
On April 4, 2023, the Khmelnitsky Regional Council decided to ban the UOC activities in the region. Local authorities were recommended to conduct an inventory of land plots used by the canonical Orthodox Church, with the subsequent termination of its rights of use.
On April 10, 2023 Rovno Regional Council decided to ban the UOC activities in the region. Similar decisions were made by the Volyn Regional Council on April 11, 2023, the Sambor City Council of Lvov Region on April 19, 2023, and the Regional Council of the Zhitomir Region on April 27, 2023.
In April 2024, local authorities in the Kiev Region conducted “inspections of the legality of building” the local UOC churches, which may entail closures or even demolition of UOC churches, as in the case of Church of the Tithes Monastery, which was demolished on May 16, 2024.
The UOC activities are entirely banned in Lvov, which is a large city. There have been repeated arsons, forced closures or seizures of the canonical UOC churches. In November 2024, the regional authorities announced that there were no registered UOC religious communities left in the Lvov Region.

In some regions and communities, the lease contracts on historical churches or monasteries with UOC communities are being illegally terminated. The land used by the churches and cathedrals already built is illegally withdrawn from the use of religious communities, with the subsequent seizure of the relevant buildings or obstruction of worship. Since the beginning of 2023, the following actions have been taken:

In February 2023, the Old Chernigov National Architectural and Historical Reserve sent a letter to Metropolitan Ambrose of Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversky to notify him of termination of contracts for the use of several historical churches on the reserve grounds: the Trinity Monastery (17th _18th centuries), the Yelets Monastery (12th_17th centuries), and the Transfiguration Cathedral (11th century) upon expiry of the respective contracts in 2021. The letter also included a demand “to vacate the property of the reserve by March 27, 2023 inclusive.”
In February 2023, the Rovno District Administrative Court granted a request from a local OCU “cleric” and cancelled the state registration of the land used by the Trinity Gorodok Convent of the Rovno Diocese of the UOC.
In March 2023, the Press Service of the Ternopol Diocese of the UOC announced in a comment published on its website that the Kremenets-Pochaev Historical and Architectural Reserve was taking steps to deprive the UOC community of the right to use the historical St Nicholas Cathedral in Kremenets. The parish was given no opportunity to extend the contract. The “procedure for the return of the cathedral” to state use was initiated, a “commission for the return of the property” was created, and a meeting was held on the transfer of the property. However, the abbot refused to sign the corresponding act of transfer and acceptance. On February 8, the diocese appealed to the Ministry of Culture, but did not receive a response.
On April 4, 2023, the Khmelnitsky City Council unanimously decided to withdraw 13 land plots from the use of the UOC, including the land used by the cathedral and the Khmelnitsky Diocese Administration of the canonical Orthodox Church, as well as the land used by the John the Baptist Monastery. The mayor of the city, Alexander Semchishin, said that the plots would be transferred to the use of the OCU. However, the contracts could be renegotiated if the respective UOC communities were to transition to the OCU. On May 24, the Khmelnitsky City Council decided to transfer five plots withdrawn from the use of the canonical Orthodox Church communities to other organisations: the land used by the Church of the Intercession, Kazan Church and the Nativity of the Mother of God Church of the UOC will go to “religious communities that have transitioned to the OCU”; the site of the UOC Cathedral will be split, with part of it given to the newly created OCU community; one of the two plots used by the St George Church of the UOC will be transferred to a military unit, and the other will go to another OCU community. In June, the mayor again demanded that “any Moscow Patriarchate entities vacate the land plots they were using illegally,” reiterating that the right of use of 13 land plots housing the UOC churches in the city had been terminated and they were to be returned to the city by court order. One of the plots was repurposed as a city garden, while “a new kindergarten was expedient to be built” on the other.
On April 4, 2023, the City Council in Kamenets-Podolsky, Khmelnitsky Region, adopted several decisions against the canonical Orthodox Church. Those included an appeal to Vladimir Zelensky, Verkhovna Rada, the Cabinet of Ministers and Khmelnitsky Regional State Administration calling for a ban on the UOC in Ukraine; an appeal to Metropolitan Theodore of Kamenets-Podolsky and Gorodok calling for the withdrawal of the diocese from the Russian Church; and an appeal to Vladimir Zelensky and the Cabinet of Ministers as regards the termination of agreements with the UOC on the lease or use of state-owned church buildings. The deputies also voted for 20 projects to terminate the use or lease of UOC land plots, including those under the cathedral, the diocese administration, churches, and chapels.
On April 10, 2023, the Rovno City Council terminated the UOC’s right to use land plots in the city. The deputies addressed Ukraine’s leadership and the SBU, calling for a ban on the activity of the canonical Orthodox Church.
On April 17, 2023, the Ternopol City Council adopted a decision to seize the city cathedral’s land plot from the UOC.
On April 26, the Lutsk City Council adopted a decision to conduct an immediate inventory of land plots and buildings used by the UOC and to draft resolutions on the termination of the right to use them, to be considered at the next session. The deputies also called on the Verkhovna Rada to “ban the UOC without delay” and appealed to Vladimir Zelensky asking for draft bills banning the canonical Orthodox Church, proposed by Nikolay Knyazhitsky (No. 8221) and Prime Minister Denis Shmygal (No. 8371), to be considered by the Verkhovna Rada out of turn.
On April 26, 2023, the Sumy City Council ruled to deprive the UOC of the right to use municipal community land plots.
On April 27, 2023, the Chernovtsy City Council adopted a decision to seize 22 UOC cathedral and church land plots in the city. Explaining the move, Chernovtsy Mayor Roman Klichuk said they could be divided and partially used for “building children’s playgrounds, a garden, a public park, or a parking lot,” adding that the UOC communities would not be allowed to build or repair facilities in the city.
On April 27, 2023, the Brovary City Council, Kiev Region, terminated the agreements on the permanent use of four land plots where five UOC churches had been built.
On April 27, 2023, the Belaya Tserkov City Council, Kiev Region, terminated the agreements on the use of land plots under 10 churches of the UOC Belaya Tserkov Diocese and transferred its Transfiguration Cathedral to communal ownership. The diocese challenged the decision in court.
On April 27, 2023, the Zhitomir Region Council banned the UOC in the region and appealed to the Verkhovna Rada to promptly consider the draft bills proposed by Nikolay Knyazhitsky and Denis Shmygal on banning the canonical Orthodox Church in the country. The council also revoked the decision on the transfer of a land plot to the Athos Icon of the Mother of God Convent, which was returned to communal ownership.
On May 16, 2023, the Chernovtsy Region Council banned religious organisations that were proved to “have religious and church ties with the aggressor country.” It was recommended that local communities terminate land and real estate lease contracts with such organisations.
On May 24, 2023, the Mirgorod City Council, Poltava Region, banned the UOC and deprived its communities of the right to use their land plots in the city. Five land plots owned by the canonical Orthodox Church were seized, including the land under the city cathedral.
On May 30, 2023, the Kovel City Council, Volyn Region, terminated the UOC’s right to use land plots, with 14 church plots in Kovel and neighbouring villages to be seized.
Overnight into May 17, 2024, the Kiev authorities tore down the Sts Vladimir and Olga Church of the Tithes Monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God of the UOC, which was built on the foundation of the Tithes Church, the first orthodox stone church in Russia, that had been destroyed in the 13th century by the Batu Khan’s army.
On June 28, 2024, the Court of Appeal in Ternopol terminated the UOC’s right to use land plot under the Cathedral of the Holy Martyrs Vera, Nadezhda, Lyubov and their mother Sophia. The local orthodox community was subsequently prohibited from using the cathedral as well.
On August 23, 2024, the Chernovtsy authorities terminated the UOC’s rights to the Three Holy Hierarchs Church in the city cemetery, the first Romanian parish of the UOC in Ukraine, which also serves as the tomb of Romanian Orthodox bishops from Bukovina. The church was sealed and turned over to the schismatic OCU on September 4, 2024. The Romanian Orthodox Church has criticised these actions and called on the Romanian authorities to intervene.

Section 4. Seizures of UOC churches and illegal re-registration of communities

The authorities persist in conducting raider seizures of churches and the redistribution of property belonging to the UOC. This is accompanied by physical violence against its clergy and parishioners, desecration of holy sites, and other unlawful actions that remain unpunished.

In 2022, this trend escalated markedly, with the number of forced seizures of UOC shrines increasing nearly twenty-fold to reach 300 cases within the year. Since October 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has conducted over 1,000 searches in monasteries, churches, and administrative buildings of UOC dioceses across Ukraine.

According to UOC leadership, 129 churches were seized in 2022 in the regions of Ivano-Frankovsk, Lvov, Volyn, Rovno, Zhitomir, Khmelnitsky, Vinnitsa, Chernovtsy, Chernigov, Kiev, and others, with only 31 cases involving voluntary transitions of communities.

In 2023 and 2024, the forced seizure and destruction of churches continued to intensify. Notable instances include the seizures of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Khorov, Rovno Region (June 6, 2023); the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God in Uladovka, Vinnitsa region (June 20, 2023); Church of St Michael the Archistratigus in Belogorodka, Kiev Region (June 25, 2023); Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Unburnt Bush (July 9, 2023) and the Saint Paraskeva Church in Neteshin, Khmelnitsky Region (July 27, 2023). The mass seizures of UOC churches do not stem from popular will and democratic procedures at the local level, as claimed by Ukrainian authorities, but rather from the actions of local officials. Most seizures are concentrated in towns, villages, and districts where authorities overtly exhibit hostility towards the canonical Orthodox Church. In several regions, local authorities and self-government body representatives openly initiate, organise, and personally participate in these seizures.

Such seizures are typically preceded by the illegal and coercive “re-registration” of UOC communities to the OCU by state registrars. The OCU officially lays claim to the churches and monasteries of the canonical Orthodox Church nationwide. This “re-registration” relies on sham “referendums” involving territorial community members (including non-believers or adherents of other faiths) and occasionally non-resident individuals. Documentation for assembly protocols and subsequent “re-registration” is frequently falsified, often overriding communities’ lawful, documented decisions adopted at parish meetings to retain UOC affiliation.

Ukrainian sources report that over 1,500 communities have “transitioned” to OCU “jurisdiction” in the four years since former Ukrainian President Petr Poroshenko received the “Tomos of Autocephaly” in January 2019. From January to July 2024, a further 159 religious communities were transferred from the UOC to the OCU.

The utilisation of firearms during church seizures has become pervasive. These actions are facilitated not only by the militarised formations of the so-called Territorial Defence but also by local authorities and security agencies, with active involvement from representatives of other religious organisations. Numerous “independent” marauders and rioters justify their raids as an ideological struggle against “occupiers” and their “spiritual proxies”. Footage of these operations is circulated across Ukrainian social media platforms to encourage emulation.

Outlined below are examples of seizures, including those characterised by particularly egregious acts of violence and vandalism against UOC communities:

During 2022–2023, all UOC churches and monasteries in the Ivano-Frankovsk Region were either seized or shuttered. In several instances, seizures involved the beating of clergy, believers, and monastics, accompanied by intimidation and armed abductions of priests. On March 28, 2023, OCU supporters stormed the cathedral of the UOC Ivano-Frankovsk Diocese: approximately 200 individuals, including masked militants and Territorial Defence members, breached the gates, forced open side doors, and discharged tear gas inside, compelling the cathedral’s defenders to evacuate. Law enforcement officers present did not intervene. Despite offering no resistance, UOC believers were assaulted: Bishop Nikita of Ivano-Frankovsk and Kolomyia had his skouphos knocked off, while an accompanying videographer livestreaming the events was beaten, halting the broadcast. Several clergies required medical treatment for chemical burns to their corneas. The diocesan administration secretary lost consciousness due to gas exposure and was hospitalised in critical condition. Ivano-Frankovsk Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv had repeatedly incited the cathedral’s seizure and publicly endorsed the action.
On June 29, 2022, in Fastov, Kiev Region, OCU clergy and supporters seized the UOC Church of the Intercession by breaking its locks, forcibly displacing Orthodox worshippers, and physically blocking the rector from accessing the premises. Armed militants dispatched by authorities intimidated parishioners, while police facilitated the perpetrators. During a prior attempt to seize the same site, an OCU “cleric” kicked the UOC community’s rector, Archpriest Anatoly Kirichenko-Kiriakidis, in the abdomen, knocking him to the ground (video evidence published). Police closed the assault case “for absence of elements of crime in the act.”
On July 24, 2022, in Pirogovtsy, Khmelnitsky Region, OCU supporters led by the local district council chairman attempted to storm a UOC church during Sunday liturgy, breaking the door lock, verbally abusing worshippers, and assaulting the rector and parishioners – including women – after the service. The community rector, Archpriest Alexander Kravets, was thrown down the steps, had his pectoral cross smashed, and was repeatedly kicked while prone. One female parishioner was rendered unconscious after being slammed headfirst into a brick wall. The district council chairman participated in the violence; police officers present did not intervene. Video recordings and eyewitness testimonies have been published.
On September 22, 2022, in the village of Popelnya, Zhitomir Region, 100 OCU supporters and armed militants from the local Territorial Defence renewed efforts to seize a UOC church by encircling it and forcing open its exterior and interior doors. Physical force was deployed against believers defending the site, while police again declined to intervene. Parishioners assert the seizure followed the falsification of community documentation.
On November 5, 2022, OCU supporters attempted to seize the UOC-operated Sts Boris and Gleb Church in the town of Pereyaslav, Kiev Region, with the assistance of the city mayor and local Territorial Defence units. They broke the locks and replaced them with new ones. Father Superior Priest Oleg Rodionov was thrown to the ground and brutally kicked, his wife was also beaten and forced to delete the video of the crime from her phone. Both victims were told they would be “slaughtered and their bodies would be found a week later.”
On November 4 and 5, 2022, members of a local criminal group made two attempts to break into a UOC church in the village of Demyantsy, Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky District, Kiev Region. They beat up the deacon of the church and his wife, and the head of the village council threatened the UOC clerics that they would be “cut into pieces and taken away from the premises in suitcases.”
On November 19, 2022, an attempt was made to seize the church in the village of Pukhovtsy, Brovary District, Kiev Region, following an illegal “re-registration” of a UOC community. The Territorial Defence fighters and OCU activists broke the locks, pushed the parishioners out, beat up women, and tried to break the reporters’ camera.
On January 21, 2023, OCU supporters seized a church of the UOC’s Borispol Diocese in the village of Tarasovka, Boyarka District, Kiev Region. Armed members of Territorial Defence units, led by a representative of the local authorities, forced their way into the church grounds, broke the locks and locked themselves inside. They beat up a security guard from the UOC parish, and used pepper spray against him.
In February 2023, OCU supporters led by a local deputy attempted to seize a church of the UOC Sarny Diocese in Strelsk, Sarny District, Rovno Region, beating up women and elderly people during the clash. The police only intervened and sprayed tear gas when the conflict reached its high point. The church was sealed pending a court ruling.
On the night of February 25, 2023, OCU supporters simulated an attempt to rob a UOC church in the village of Blistavitsa, Bucha District, Kiev Region, tearing down the gates and damaging the door, and trying to get inside under the pretext of making sure the property was safe. A deputy and an official from the Bucha City Council, as well as members of the local Territorial Defence units took part in the attempted seizure, which the parishioners prevented. During the scuffle, one of the attackers punched the father superior’s wife in the face.
On April 5, 2023, OCU supporters and far-right radicals seized St George's Cathedral of the UOC Lvov Diocese. The parishioners offered little resistance and were forced out of the cathedral. After that, the attackers held a fake referendum on the church’s transition to the OCU with the participation of unidentified individuals, and took an “inventory” of the property. Metropolitan Filaret of Lvov and Galicia was pressurised to re-register the church immediately or “hand over its property” to the OCU.
On April 5, 2023, a UOC church was seized in the village of Zadubrovka, Zastanov District, Chernovtsy Region. Under the pretext of attending the funeral service for an OCU parishioner who had been killed in action, the clerics from the schismatic church and over 40 radicals wearing balaclavas entered the church grounds and forced their way into the church, breaking the locks and beating up the canonical Orthodox Church believers. The assault took place during the funeral service for the deceased.
From April 8 to 12, 2023, the municipal authorities of Kamenets-Podolsky, Khmelnitsky Region, staged mass protests by OCU supporters on the grounds of the UOC-operated Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Employees from publicly funded organisations, students and schoolchildren were forced to take part in the protests. The video footage shows open supporters of Satanist cults, neo-pagans and Greek Catholics among the protesters, some of whom exchanged Nazi salutes. There were repeated attempts to assault the cathedral and numerous provocations against the believers.
On April 24, 2023, the town head and the chairman of the local district council announced the closure of the UOC-operated St Vladimir Church in Brody, Zolochev District, Lvov Region. It was sealed and the procedure for “transferring” the church to the OCU began. That church is privately owned, but, according to the officials, the father superior himself consented to closing the church and signed the necessary papers. The same day the district council chairman ordered the seizure “for military needs” of a temporary UOC church in Zolochev, Lvov Region, which held services in a site container, was privately owned and was located on private land.
On April 22, 2023, OCU proponents, supported by members of the Territorial Defence units, seized the UOC church and the house of the clergy of the parish in the village of Trebukhov, Brovary District, Kiev Region. The doors of the church were broken in, and believers were beaten up. One of the OCU activists burned the Bible and prayer books in Russian, calling the books “garbage.”
On May 6, 2023, unidentified persons clad in military uniforms and wearing masks seized, with the assistance of the police, the St Michael's Church of the UOC in Boyarka, Kiev Region. The numerous members of the church parish who offered resistance succumbed to pepper gas and brute physical force. The attackers broke the church gates and doors, and beat up the father superior, and his wife was hospitalised with a broken arm and leg. However, the believers continued to attend services. On May 7, over 130 of them prayed during the Sunday liturgy at the gates of the seized church. At the same time, about 15 OCU followers prayed inside the church.
On May 13, 2023, individuals dressed in military uniforms and wearing masks, supported by local authorities, seized the church of the UOC Borispol Diocese in the village of Petropavlovskoye, Borispol District, Kiev Region. During the clashes, several parishioners of the canonical Orthodox Church were injured, one of them was seriously injured (he is believed to have suffered a traumatic brain injury). The UOC community filed a lawsuit against the illegal re-registration of the church.
On May 20, 2023, 40 armed men posing as members of a “private security company” seized a UOC church in the village of Ryngach, Novoselitsa District, Chernovtsy Region. They broke down the gate and the building doors and smashed the windows, beat up the father superior (punched him in the face, threw him on the ground, and kicked him), broke his cell phone and removed the hard disk recorder from the video surveillance cameras.
On June 2, 2023, in the village of Medzhibozh, Khmelnitsky District, Khmelnitsky Region, the OCU supporters seized the St Nicholas Church of the UOC, using brutal physical force against the believers. In particular, a deputy of the local district council who participated in the seizure snatched a mobile phone from a woman who was filming the act. The police were present at the scene but did not intervene. At the end of March 2023, the local UOC community decided at a meeting to remain part of the canonical Orthodox Church: the relevant protocols were handed over to the authorities.
On August 22, 2023, the Khmelnitsky Diocese of the UOC reported that OCU activists seized two churches of the canonical Church in the Khmelnitsky Region – St Nicholas Church in the village of Mytintsy and St John the Theologian Church in the village of Volitsa. In both cases, the statements by the abbots and local activists, members of the UOC religious communities, on their decision to remain under the UOC jurisdiction, failed to prevent the seizure.
On September 4, 2023, the police broke into the Holy Epiphany Convent in the Ternopol Region because the lease agreement had expired. Predictedly, the regional authorities refused to extend it and decided to close the convent and evict the nuns.
In early January 2024, the Kazan Church of the UOC in the city of Ladyzhin in the Vinnitsa Region was forcibly seized. During the attack, raiders from the OCU beat the priest and parishioners.
On the night of January 10, 2024, attackers cut off the padlocks and seized the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the village of Lesniki in the Kiev Region.
On January 10, 2024, the OCU supporters seized the historical UOC church built in 1801 in honour of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Pishcha in the Volyn Region, which also happens to be an architectural landmark of national significance. During the attack, the raiders broke down the door.
On January 14, 2024, representatives of the OCU, aided by the authorities, seized the Holy Intersession Church of the UOC in the village of Chepelevka, Khmelnitsky Region. Deputy of the Khmelnitsky District Council Alexander Cherniyevich as well as deputies of the Krasilov City Council participated in this crime, along with unknown “athletic men.”
On January 22−23, 2024, attempts were made to seize the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God in the city of Kamne-Kashirsky, Volyn Region, but the UOC believers successfully defended their church.
On January 27, 2024, after a service at the UOC church in the village of Pecheskoye in the Khmelnitsky Region, local supporters of the OCU, with the inaction of police officers, took possession of the church’s premises, pushing the Father Superior, Archpriest Mikhail Furman, and the archpriest of the Krasilov District, Archpriest Vitaly Dunets, out of the church.
On March 14, 2024, during a service, OCU activists broke into the St George Church of the UOC in the city of Kotsyubinskoye, Kiev Region, expelling its father superior and bringing a cleric of the schismatic OCU into the church despite the congregation’s protests.
On May 8, 2024, the OCU raiders seized the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God in the village of Chernoguzy, Chernovtsy Region. The members of the community who tried to protect their church were badly beaten and tear gas was used against them.
On May 15, 2024, representatives of the local administration, accompanied by police, knocked down the doors of the Holy Intersession Church of the UOC in the village of Sutkovtsy, Khmelnitsky Region, a unique piece of medieval religious and military architecture of the 15th-16th centuries, and announced that it was their property now.
On May 26, 2024, supporters of the schismatic OCU, assisted by the police, seized the UOC church consecrated to Demetrius of Thessalonica in the village of Berezov, Khmelnitsky Region. Law enforcement officers pushed the UOC believers away from the entrance while representatives of the schismatic OCU broke down the doors and entered the church.
On May 31, 2024, the UOC Cathedral in Korsun-Shevchenkovsky, Cherkassy Region – the Cathedral of the Saviour Not Made by Hands – was seized. The operation was overseen by a senior official of the local SBU branch.
On June 20, 2024, in Irpen, Kiev Region, OCU supporters seized St George’s Church of the UOC. They cut off the doors, forcibly entered the building, and, with police assistance, prevented parishioners of the canonical Church from accessing the church.
On July 11, 2024, schismatics confiscated the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God from believers in the village of Rudnya, Kiev Region, disregarding the stance of the local Orthodox community.
On July 16, 2024, deputies of the Khmelnitsky District Council, the village headman, and OCU schismatics forcibly seized St Nicholas Church of the UOC in the village of Pilipy, Khmelnitsky Region. The religious community, including its father superior, remained fully loyal to the canonical Church.
On August 5, 2024, in Zastavki, Khmelnitsky Region, OCU supporters, alongside the village headman, seized the Holy Trinity Church of the UOC.
On August 31, 2024, a group of raiders in camouflage cut off locks and forcibly entered the grounds of the Church of the Great Martyr George the Victorious of the UOC in the village of Priyutovka, Kirovograd Region. Tear gas and fire extinguishers were deployed against Orthodox Christians.
On September 2, 2024, the Holy Dormition Cathedral of the UOC in Zolotonosha, Cherkassy Diocese, was seized. OCU cleric Roman Lychak re-registered the UOC parish under his name, appointing himself as its director. The UOC religious community, led by the church’s father superior, maintained allegiance to the canonical Church.
On September 4, 2024, the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God of the UOC in the village of Zeremlya, Baranovsky District, Zhitomir Region, was subjected to arson. The church was entirely gutted internally and externally.
On September 7, 2024, OCU representatives, with active support from police and nationalist volunteer formations, attempted to seize the Intercession Church of the UOC in Boyarka, Kiev Region. Schismatics blockaded all entrances to the church, barred parishioners from entry, and deployed tear gas against them.
On September 10, 2024, OCU supporters seized the Archangel Michael Church of the UOC located in the village of Zelenov, Chernovitsy Region.
On September 19, 2024, in Irpen, Kiev Region, a group of OCU raiders, backed by the city mayor and police, seized St Nicholas Church and the Chapel of the Resurrection of Christ – the last remaining UOC church in the city.
On September 19, 2024, in the village of Kalita, Brovary District, Kiev Region, nationalists wearing balaclavas and military uniforms replaced locks on St Nicholas Church, which was illegally transferred to the OCU in April 2024.
On September 26, 2024, nationalists set fire to a UOC church under construction in honour of the Intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God in the village of Starye Koshary, Volyn Region. This church was being built to replace the previous Church of the Apostle John the Theologian, seized by schismatics.
On October 6, 2024, a group of OCU raiders seized the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God of the UOC in the village of Novoselki, Kiev Region.
On October 17, 2024, an attempted raider seizure of the Holy Dormition Cathedral of the UOC in Kremenchug, Poltava Region, occurred. During evening service, unidentified youths wearing balaclavas aggressively stormed the church, provoking parishioners. The assailants used angle grinders and crowbars to cut door locks and replace the central entrance lock. Although UOC parishioners successfully defended the cathedral, the building was later closed and sealed by police.
On October 17, 2024, approximately 100 individuals in camouflage and balaclavas – later identified as OCU activists, military personnel, and local municipal officials – forcibly breached the grounds of the Archangel Michael Cathedral of the UOC in Cherkassy during a nighttime liturgy. They assaulted Metropolitan Feodosiy of Cherkassy and Kanev, along with believers, deploying tear gas and non-lethal weapons. The Metropolitan sustained a concussion, first-degree corneal burns in both eyes, and skin burns. Over 30 laypersons were injured, with 12 hospitalised with severe wounds. The attackers looted the cathedral, stealing treasury funds, documents, computers, icons, and all decorations resembling gold or silver. The desecration lasted six hours.
Additionally, a new fabricated criminal case was initiated against Metropolitan Feodosiy under charges of “inciting interconfessional hatred” and “justifying aggression” (following prior accusations of inciting religious hatred from April to December 2023, he had been under court-ordered house arrest).
On November 1, 2024, in the Transfiguration Cathedral of Chernigov, previously forcibly taken from the UOC, radicals removed and transported all icons, repurposing the site for film screenings.
On November 10, 2024, OCU supporters held a “meeting” in the village of Seyantsy, Rovno Region, following which they sealed St George’s Church of the UOC.

Section 5. Pressure exerted by national and regional authorities on major UOC monasteries

Pressure on major UOC monasteries increased.

In May 2022, the state-supported OCU created and registered a “parallel parish” at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, the UOC’s largest monastery, under the same name. In 2023, the state did not renew the agreement on the use of Lavra’s two largest churches that had been built and renovated with funds provided by the canonical Orthodox Church. It also terminated, unilaterally and without legal grounds, the long-term agreement with the UOC on the use of other buildings within the confines of the Lavra. The Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine (former Ministry of Culture and Information Policy) is pressing for transferring all buildings at the Lavra to the state and evicting the monastic community from the monastery. The monastery hierarchs and the monks are being urged to join the rival church, the OCU, which demands that the monastery buildings be transferred to it.

A decision by the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine of December 1, 2022 and an executive order by President Zelensky of the same date provided legal grounds for the Ukrainian state’s efforts to withdraw the buildings of the UOC’s largest and oldest monastery – the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra − from the church’s use.

On March 10, 2023, the director of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra National Architectural Reserve sent a letter to “the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra (monastery) operated by the UOC,” informing the addressee (without mentioning the name of the father superior) about the termination of the agreement on the use of the churches and monastery buildings and issuing a demand to vacate the monastery grounds by March 29, 2023. The findings of an interagency working group, which had allegedly “discovered violations by the monastery of the terms of the agreement regarding the use of the state property,” were cited as grounds for the explicit demand to vacate the buildings.

In his remarks, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Alexander Tkachenko repeatedly demanded that the UOC clergy leave the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, and also made it clear that the monks were given a “choice” to either leave the premises or join the OCU. Despite the lawsuits filed by the monastery and without waiting for a relevant court ruling, the management of the reserve attempted, with the help of the police, to seal off some of the monastery buildings and to evict the monks from them, prevented the officiation, and regularly hindered the believers' access to the monastery's relics in March−April 2023.

After the monks refused to vacate the monastery or to join the OCU, Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl, the father superior of the Lavra, was charged under Part 1 of Article 161 (“Violation of citizens’ rights based on their race, ethnicity, regional affiliation, or religious beliefs”) and Part 1 of Article 436-2 (“Justification and denial of the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine and glorification of its participants”) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He was put under house arrest on April 1, 2023. Posting on Telegram in June 2023, his lawyer Archpriest Nikita Chekman highlighted multiple investigative and procedural violations in Metropolitan Pavel's case. He said SBU officers were on round-the-clock duty outside the building in which Metropolitan Pavel was staying, and his visitors were summoned for questioning as witnesses and asked not to communicate with him. In the middle of July 2023, the metropolitan was detained and was released on bail on August 7, 2023. The investigation into his case is ongoing, while the Metropiolitan Pavel remains under house arrest.

The police and special services are putting pressure on the clergy and believers, preventing videotaping and making illegal detentions with the use of brutal force. Criminal cases have been opened under far-fetched pretexts against four UOC activists, who are now under house arrest.

On June 6, 2023, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Alexander Tkachenko posted a statement on Telegram saying that a ministerial commission had finished its work at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and, acting together with the reserve’s administration, signed an act of acceptance of state property. According to him, 79 buildings and structures in varying conditions have been “handed over.” He accused the UOC of “unauthorised rebuilding, building additional components and redevelopment” of the buildings and issued a demand to stop using the Lavra buildings and return them to the reserve within three working days: “The Lavra must be Ukrainian, and it is being returned to the state.”

The legal department of the UOC published a comment in which it described the minister’s demand as illegal, groundless and unactionable, pointing out that litigation under the lawsuit filed by the reserve continues.

On June 5, 2023, the Kiev Commercial Court again postponed for one month the preparatory hearing on the lawsuit brought by the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Reserve against the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery operated by the UOC to lift obstacles preventing it from using the property.

On August 10, 2023, the Kiev Commercial Court granted the lawsuit of the National Cultural Reserve “on removing obstacles hindering the use of property,” thereby legalising the eviction of the monks from their permanent place of residence.

On August 11, 2023, Ukrainian law enforcers surrounded the Lavra, preventing believers and pilgrims from entering it, while the relevant commission of the Culture Ministry sealed off several blocks. Two days before that, on August 9, Lavra’s counterclaim filed by its representatives to recognise unlawful the unilateral termination of the agreement on the use of the monastery was rejected.

On September 12, 2023, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine announced that 13 of the approximately 40 full-scale buildings of the monastery had been placed under government control.

On May 20, 2024, Ukrainian Acting Minister of Culture Rostislav Karandeyev threatened to use force to evict the monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from Nizhnyaya (Lower) Lavra because, according to him, they had been living there against the law. The monks of the canonical Church were given one month to move out voluntarily.

In the early morning of August 14, 2024, the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Life-Giving Spring at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was seized from the brethren, to be subsequently closed and sealed up. The reserve’s Director General Maxim Ostapenko explained that the church had been sealed up because it was allegedly “state property.” He also reported that the reserve “had unilaterally terminated” the agreement with the UOC monastery.

The OCU also created a “concurrent” community of Ukraine’s second largest monastery, the Pochaev Lavra of the UOC (the Ternopol Region). Representatives of the OCU are openly calling for evicting the monks of the canonical Orthodox Church from the Pochaev Monastery and transferring it to the OCU. Local regional officials are insisting on evicting the monks of the UOC from the Pochaev Lavra and transferring its buildings to a state museum, a stance supported by Ukrainian Minister of Culture and Information Policy Alexander Tkachenko.

In May 2023, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Ternopol Region opened a criminal case on wasteful use of the lands of the Holy Dormition Pochaev Lavra while the Ministry of Culture sent there its commission. It was done on the premise that the monks had allegedly been using a plot of over 1,000 sq m without authorisation and removed the upper layer of the farming land. The Ukrainian authorities made no secret of their aggressive plans. In March 2023, Head of the Ternopol Regional Council Mikhail Golovko claimed that he would demand terminating the agreement with the UOC on the use of the land by the monastery, a lease agreement that was closed in 2003 for 50 years. Feigned accusations that the canonical church allegedly violated the contractual terms may be used as a motive. Actions of the Ukrainian authorities’ representatives confirm this intention. The schismatic OCU and the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church also had claims for the Pochaev Lavra.

On August 19, 2023, allegedly “for security reasons,” the Ternopol Region authorities prohibited the cross procession to the Pochaev Lavra on the Feast of Dormition of the Mother of God. The cross procession was blocked in three regions: Ternopol, Khmelnitsky and Rovno. The parishioners and the clergy who gathered at the cathedral in Kamenets-Podolsky of the Khmelnitsy Region were met by police. The authorities also attempted to serve draft notices to men of a draft age.

On April 17, 2024, the Ternopol City Council passed a decision to deprive the UOC of any land in the city. As a result, the UOC Ternopol Diocese lost control over the plot where the cathedral of the canonical Church is located. The same month, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy established a commission to inspect the use of Pochaev Lavra facilities. In November 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine searched the monastery. On June 5, 2024, it was reported that a commission of the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, supported by the Security Service of Ukraine, started operating in the Pochaev Lavra. According to experts, these actions indicate the first steps in seizing the monastery and its property.

On August 14, 2024, the Commercial Court of the Ternopol Region ruled to seize the rooms of the UOC’s Pochaev Monastery of the Holy Spirit that was part of the Pochaev Lavra. On October 31, 2024, the Lvov Western Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal and upheld the ruling.

The Kiev regime is reported to be taking efforts to seize the other UOC monasteries while putting a varnish of legality on these actions. On July 5, 2024, The Kiev Commercial Court of Appeal issued a ruling in the lawsuit by the Old Chernigov National Architecture and History Reserve, according to which the Chernigov Diocese Administration of the UOC had no right to be on the territory of the Yelets Monastery, and obliged the clergy to vacate the premises. In the autumn of 2023, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture Commission announced the launch of the transfer of the Old Chernigov Reserve facilities to state property, including the cathedrals operated by the canonical Church. In March 2024, Acting Director General of the Reserve Vladimir Khomich demanded that the UOC vacate the Trinity Monastery, the Yelets Monastery and the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Saviour in Chernigov.

One of the major steps that the Kiev regime took to confiscate the monasteries belonging to the UOC was the seizure of Orthodox objects of worship, including the relics of saints and church decorations, which the current Ukrainian authorities, voluntarily selling off their history, treat as common artefacts whose value is determined not by history or tradition, but by their auction price. In June 2023, the media reported that the Ukrainian authorities had agreed with UNESCO to move historical icons and relics of saints from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra to European museums “for preservation.” The ancient Byzantine icons, which were secretly exported through the mediation of the aforementioned UN body and the Swiss NGO International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas, were exhibited in the Louvre Museum in Paris. After that, according to reports, agreements were reached on the removal of the relics of Orthodox saints from the Lavra. Moreover, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture merely referred to them as “exhibits.” It was assumed that those antique objects of Orthodox art, stolen with the Kiev regime’s consent, could be used as a means of payment for Western weapons.

Trying to counterbalance the criticism of the international community, Director of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve Maxim Ostapenko told reporters in November 2023: “The Ministry of Culture will enlist the expertise of specialists from various fields to examine the said sacred objects and verify their authenticity. It is our intention to avoid subsequent accusations of keeping the wrong objects of worship, or that the scared artefacts have been stolen.” On March 31, 2024, Maryana Tomin, a representative of the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, further supported this policy, announcing the department’s plans to conduct an inventory of the relics of the Kiev-Pechersk monks kept in the Lavra’s caves, which she referred to as “the unburied remains of saints.” According to her, the ministry planned to involve anthropologists, military chaplains, and archaeologists in the project. The situation was further aggravated by the fact that the UOC clergy were barred from participating in these examinations, since according to the Ukrainian law on military chaplains adopted in December 2021, Ukrainian Orthodox Church priests could not be military chaplains; that service was reserved for priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church or from the schismatic OCU. Accordingly, they were the only ones authorised to conduct that “examination of the unburied remains” of Orthodox saints. Representatives of both churches have also repeatedly stated that the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is the resting place of “wrong” remains, referring to the relics of “Russian saints.” The OCU has excluded several “wrong” saints from its canon. Therefore, experts believe it is quite likely that the relics of saints who do not meet the Ukrainian criteria of patriotism will be removed from the Lavra.

Similar precedents have already taken place. On October 5, 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine confiscated the relics of three saints – St Theodosius, St Philaret and St Lawrence of Chernigov – from the UOC’s Chernigov Holy Trinity Cathedral. At present, there is no information as to whether the sacred objects are still in the Holy Trinity Cathedral. It is also unknown whether they have been damaged by the Ukrainian ministry employees during the unexpected seizure of the cathedral and in the subsequent period. The Old Chernigov National Architectural and Historical Reserve has no documents on the “inventory” of the relics of St Philaret and St Lawrence.

An indication that the Kiev authorities are considering the possibility of using the relics of Orthodox saints as a bargaining chip is contained in an article published in October 2023 in Basilica, the Romanian Patriarchate’s publication. The article, “Ukraine ready to offer Romania St Theodora’s relics in exchange for national heroes’ remains,” refers to unannounced agreements between the governments of Romania and Ukraine on the search for the relics of St Theodora of Sihla, which may be in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, as suggested by Romanian researchers. The venerated relics can presumably be exchanged for the remains of Hetmans Philip Orlik and Ivan Mazepa buried on the territory of Romania.

Section 6. Hate speech, unprovoked aggression and violence against the UOC clergy and believers

Major politicians, government officials, and regional authorities are fostering hate speech towards the UOC, while a large-scale information campaign against it is being carried out through state and commercial media. As a result, churches and shrines of the canonical Orthodox Church have been subjected to vandalism and arson, and its clergy and believers have faced unprovoked violence and aggression.

From 2022 to 2024, rhetoric of hatred towards the UOC has been present in public speeches by Ukraine’s state leadership, high-ranking government officials and politicians, leaders of special services and security agencies, as well as prominent public and religious figures. For instance:

In December 2022, former Ukrainian President Petr Poroshenko stated in an interview with Channel 5, which he owns: “I am not aware of such a church, the UOC. According to current legislation, there is only a Ukrainian branch of the Russian Orthodox Church. This is not a church; it is a KGB den that endorses and blesses the killing of Ukrainians, a poison for any believer.”
On January 27, 2023, in a comment to Channel 24, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council Alexey Danilov rejected referring to the UOC as a church, stating: “When this institution [the UOC] is called a church, it contradicts the tasks which they are directly assigned.” He also accused the UOC representatives of “supporting terrorism,” “working exclusively for the FSB,” and claimed that “these bastards participated in international trips representing Russia abroad.”
On August 26, 2022, Head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration Dmitry Zhyvitsky said: “The enemy is now clearly defined... I will do everything to ensure that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church ceases to exist in the Sumy Region.”
On December 21, 2022, Head of the Lvov Regional Military Administration Maxim Kozitsky said: “The complete separation of the UOC (MP) from the ROC is inevitable. There is no need for self-discreditation; a decision must be made immediately.”
On July 8, 2022, Chairman of the Ternopol Regional Council Mikhail Golovko said: “The UOC is a structure hostile to our state, engaged in subversive and criminal activities... The struggle for Ukraine’s independence continues, and we cannot afford to be tolerant in religious matters.”
On August 26, 2022, Chairman of the Rovno Regional Council Sergey Kondrachuk (later removed from office), referred to the monastic community of the UOC as “smelly and shaggy” and its clergy as “FSB priests” in an interview with a local TV channel.
On December 21, 2022, head of the Ukrainian Security Service, Brigadier General Vasily Malyuk described the UOC as “an environment conducive to enemy infiltration” and stated that the SBU’s mission is “to cleanse this environment of enemy presence as efficiently as possible.”
In February 2023, former head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Alexander Skipalsky urged Ukraine’s counterintelligence services to “work substantively” with the UOC in an interview. He also made harsh and offensive remarks about UOC believers, stating: “When a cross procession moves, it reminds me of a lead ram-provocateur guiding a crowd to a slaughterhouse. Of course, key positions [in the UOC] are occupied by individuals working for Russia.”
On March 30, 2023, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, stated that only the OCU should remain in Ukraine, while the UOC “will gradually relocate to Russian cities.”
On April 27, 2023, Verkhovna Rada deputy Inna Sovsun (from the Voice party, controlled by Petr Poroshenko), who initiated one of the draft laws to ban the UOC, criticised the Verkhovna Rada for its “lack of political will” and urged for a decisive resolution. She claimed that such a decision would “ease tensions at the local level” and free local authorities from having to “engage in conflicts and forcibly remove priests of the Russian Orthodox Church from Ukrainian churches.”
During a visit to the Vladimir-Volynsk Diocese of the OCU, its head, Epiphanius Dumenko, sharply criticised Patriarch Kirill, the Russian Orthodox Church, and the UOC’s stance. In a sermon on May 10 at the OCU cathedral in the city of Vladimir in the Volyn Region, Epiphanius referred to Moscow as “today’s Egypt and Babylon,” urging people to “finally break free from slavery to Moscow.” He also compared believers of the canonical Orthodox Church to “Jews who had become so accustomed to living in Egyptian slavery that, even when witnessing miracles, they followed not God but the golden calf – an idol they created out of their own interpretation of church canons and rules.”
In a parish sermon in May 2023, Archbishop of Rovno Hilarion Protsik (OCU) said: “We still tolerate the Muscovites living under our roof. A mother buries her son today, and then she goes to the basement of the Resurrection Cathedral [the UOC cathedral], where the Muscovites pray, and bangs her forehead on the floor, praying for that same damned Kirill. Where is the truth, where is the reason, where is the heart of that mother?”
Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council Alexey Danilov made strong statements against the UOC, describing its presence in the country as a “special operation of Russia” and claiming that the actions of its clergy have no connection to the Lord God. He also expressed support for the demolition of churches belonging to this denomination.
On July 15, 2024, former President Petr Poroshenko shared a congratulatory message on his Facebook account for the 1036th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus, labelling the canonical Church as “an evil force that opposes the faith” and vowing to “fight against it.” He also stated that “today, more than ever, the issue of adopting a law to ban the Russian pseudo-church FSB structure, which masquerades as the UOC MP, is critical.”
On November 19, 2024, Vladimir Zelensky, in a statement regarding interactions with religious organisations, said: “Of course, we are not talking about the Moscow Church. The era of those who sanctify terror is over.”

Such statements and the extensive information campaign against the UOC in major state and private media outlets have precipitated unprovoked acts of violence and aggression towards the clergy of the canonical Orthodox Church:

On December 7, 2022, in the village of Chechelnik, Gaysin District, Vinnitsa Region, an individual in the uniform of the Armed Forces of Ukraine assaulted Archpriest Georgy Petrichenko, a cleric of the Tulchin Diocese and dean of the local church district. The priest was seated in his vehicle when the assailant approached, striking the car multiple times. Upon the cleric exiting the vehicle, the attacker physically assaulted him, fracturing his nasal bridge, while shouting derogatory remarks.
On December 27, 2022, in the village of Novaya Moshchanitsa, Zdolbunov District, Rovno Region, a local supporter of the OCU attempted to destroy construction materials delivered for the erection of a new UOC church, intended to replace the seized premises. The individual also struck a 72-year-old female parishioner several times in the face as she sought to intervene. Police arriving at the scene documented the victim’s testimony but declined to pursue the perpetrator.
On December 25, 2022, at the Transfiguration Church of the UOC in Chernomorsk, Odessa Region, an unidentified individual rushed onto the ambo and attempted to stab Archpriest Nikolay Pozdnyakov, the church’s father superior, as he emerged to administer communion to parishioners. Congregants subdued the assailant. Police responded only after 30 minutes, despite repeated calls, and released the detained individual 24 hours later, citing insufficient evidence of criminal conduct.
On January 2, 2023, at the Intercession Church of the UOC in Vinnitsa, an unidentified individual vandalised the church’s interior before using a straight razor to slit the throat of Archpriest Antony Kovtonyuk, who had exited the altar. The perpetrator resisted arrest and was apprehended following a gunshot wound to the leg. The father superior was hospitalised and underwent surgery. The press service of the Vinnitsa Diocese appealed to journalists of Ukrainian media outlets with a call to “cease inciting religious discord in Ukraine.”
On August 21, 2023, in the village of Khalyavin, Chernigov Region, the Holy Trinity Church of the UOC was almost entirely destroyed by fire due to arson. A canister containing traces of petrol was discovered at the scene.
On the night of April 27, 2024, in Kirovograd Region, Ukraine, unidentified individuals set fire to a UOC prayer house where congregants had been worshipping following the 2022 seizure of the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in the village of Korobchino by schismatics. The blaze consumed the walls, temporary altar, and sacrificial table.
On the night of August 24, 2024, unidentified perpetrators threw a grenade into the prayer hall of the Holy Intercession Community in the village of Strelsk, Sarnensk-Polesye Diocese of the UOC, causing an explosion and partial collapse of the structure. The building had served as a place of worship for UOC believers after their original church was seized by OCU adherents.
On September 6, 2024, in Khmelnitsky Region, hired thugs acting under state authority cut off electricity to the home of UOC Archpriest Oleg Tsaruk and attempted to forcibly evict him, his spouse, and their four minor children from their privately owned residence. The incident occurred in the village of Mytyntsy, within the grounds of the seized St Nicholas Church (2023). Subsequent attacks of this nature have recurred repeatedly, though the priest has thus far succeeded in defending his property.

Section 7. US’s influence on the church crisis in Ukraine

There is no doubt that Washington was actively involved and played the leading role in inciting the church crisis in Ukraine. It used it as an opportunity to promote its own interests, in this instance, to weaken Russia’s influence in this region. The United States share responsibility with the Constantinople Patriarchate for the Orthodox schism in Ukraine, while the other unfriendly countries took a hands-off attitude and tacitly approved the policy of arbitrariness towards the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). It was with the backstage support of the United States and its pressure that the Phanar promoted the creation of the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine in December 2018.

Officially, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) was established at the initiative of former President Petr Poroshenko and Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who granted it the tomos of autocephaly. The persecution of the canonical UOC increased after that.

The Americans did their utmost to “convince” the primates of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and the Church of Greece to recognise the OCU. The primate of the Church of Cyprus did the same in 2020. The Russian Orthodox Church responded by severing ties with Constantinople and the primates and hierarchs of the local churches who recognised the Ukrainian schism.

President Biden spoke about the importance of the schismatic church shortly before its establishment, during a meeting with Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate (one of the two non-canonical churches that later formed the OCU) and the future OCU head, Metropolitan Epiphanius. American officials often stated their support for that project, in particular, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback. The OCU received the first congratulations on its establishment from American diplomats, who were simultaneously working over local churches and Orthodox countries (Greece and Cyprus) to convince them to recognise the schismatic church.

A statement by Mike Pompeo published on the website of the US Department of State on January 10, 2019, pointed out that “the January 6th announcement of autocephaly for an independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine marks a historic achievement as Ukraine seeks to chart its own future. On this momentous occasion, the United States reiterates its unwavering support for a sovereign, independent Ukraine.” In July 2019, the US Senate adopted a resolution on the 5th anniversary of the Maidan revolt, in which they praised the creation of the UOC as “an important milestone in Ukraine’s pursuit of its own future free from Russian influence.”

High-ranking US officials held numerous meetings with the leaders of the schismatic church. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Metropolitan Epiphanius during his visit to Kiev in May 2021. In February 2023, President Biden met with the metropolitan in Kiev, where he reportedly mentioned his meeting with the metropolitan in Washington in September 2018.

The Russian Orthodox Church viewed the fact that high-ranking US officials met with the heads of the schismatic church while disregarding other religious leaders as proof that the so-called OCU and the Orthodox schism in general were a US political project.

In a conversation between ex-Secretary of State Pompeo and a Russian pranker who posed as Petr Poroshenko, which was made public in October 2024, the two officials discussed the church crisis in Ukraine. When asked about the creation of the OCU, Pompeo replied that he was at the heart of that event and that the Moscow Patriarchate must be ousted from Ukraine.

It is notable that the US-supported platforms such as the Voice of America, regularly published materials in support of the OCU, thereby promoting its international perception as a “democratic” and “progressive project” which advanced the interests of independent Ukraine.

It is also worth mentioning that a large part of the Ukraine section in the US State Department’s annual International Religious Freedom reports is devoted to Russia’s alleged responsibility for the violations of religious freedom in Ukraine. The 2023 report, which was published in June 2024, the Americans actually justify the Kiev regime’s religious crimes based on its false description of the events, despite the examples of infringement on the rights of UOC hierarchs and believers cited there. Information provided by the organisations, which lies behind the report, is far removed from reality. For example, the report states that the number of parishioners of the artificial and schismatic OCU is several times larger than the number of parishioners of the canonical UOC. However, the photos of OCU services shows that the situation is completely opposite. But the Americans refuse to see flagrant violations of religious freedom in Ukraine.

Section 8. Response of the international community

Persecution against the canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine were mentioned in the reports on the human rights situation in the country by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). In the report covering the period of November 16, 2018, to February 15, 2019, several incidents of UOC believers’ rights infringement are recorded, including pressure by the Security Service of Ukraine through searches and interrogation of the UOC clergy. It was noted that the “process of mandatory renaming of religious organisations that are affiliated with religious centres in the Russian Federation <…> is primarily targeting Ukrainian Orthodox Church communities and may be discriminatory” while the restrictions on the access of the clergy of such organisations to the facilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are counter to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. It was established that the so-called transfers of the UOC communities to the OCU in some cases “were not voluntary and were initiated by state or local authorities or even representatives of extreme right-wing groups, who were not members of those religious communities.” The OHCHR report presented at the 51st session of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights of October 7, 2022, mentioned the prohibition of the UOC activities in at least seven territorial communities in Kiev, Sumy and Lvov regions <…> for the duration of martial law. It was noted that the authorities did not present any justification of such decisions and that the activity of other public and religious organisations was not suspended, which indicates “a discriminatory measure on the ground of religion or affiliation with a particular religious group.” The report covering the period of August 1, 2022, to January 31, 2023, mentions discriminatory bills targeting the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The OHCHR expressed concern that the actions of the states against the UOC may be discriminatory.

Additionally, on November 11, 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Committee released a statement of concern about the reports of violations of the UOC members’ rights. Specifically, the statement reads: “The Committee is concerned about reports of violence, intimidation and vandalism with regard to places of worship in connection with the process of transitioning churches and religious communities from the UOC to the newly established Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The Committee is also concerned about reported police inaction during such incidents and the lack of information about investigations carried out by a participating state.” Kiev ignored these observations.

The supplement to the OHCHR report on the human rights situation in Ukraine covering the period from February 1 to April 30, 2023, released on June 16, 2023, notes the increased number of incidents when Ukrainian authorities used violence against the members and supporters of the UOC, as well as prohibition of the church’s activity by regional councils, and searches of the UOC facilities conducted by the Ukrainian law enforcement. Concern was expressed about potential discriminatory actions by authorities. The report stated that in April 2023, a surge in hate speech was reported, as well as several incidents of violence against the UOC and its clergy. It was also reported that Ukrainian government officials, bloggers and public opinion leaders used discriminatory rhetoric and openly called for violence against the clergy and supporters of the UOC. Law enforcement could not effectively prevent incidents related to hate speech against the UOC.

On March 14, 2023, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sent letters to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, UN General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Bujar Osmani, and OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid, highlighting the blatant violations of the universal and constitutional rights of Orthodox believers in Ukraine. He emphasised that these violations stem from the repressive policies of the Kiev regime, which are aimed at dismantling the UOC. The messages reference numerous instances of persecution against the canonical Orthodox Church, including the widespread seizure of UOC churches and the forced, illegal dissolution of their communities under the pretext of voluntary transitions to another jurisdiction. They also highlight the so-called restrictive measures (“sanctions”) imposed on bishops of the canonical Orthodox Church, the revocation of Ukrainian citizenship for several of its bishops, and both moral and physical pressure on priests and parishioners. The Minister described the actions of the Ukrainian authorities as a severe violation of rights and discrimination against Orthodox Christians in Ukraine, which contradicts several widely recognised international legal documents, including the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, among others. Sergey Lavrov urged international leaders to take a principled stance on the illegal actions of the Ukrainian regime against the UOC, demand that Kiev halts its arbitrary actions and repression against the canonical Orthodox Church, adheres strictly to Ukraine’s international obligations, and prevents the forced eviction of monks from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

Additionally, the Foreign Ministry and Russian diplomatic missions abroad continued to actively share information about the persecution of UOC clergy and parishioners with foreign partners, widely distributing the initial version of this Report. Russian diplomats particularly emphasised this issue when discussing Ukrainian matters in the Security Council, the General Assembly, and other UN bodies. They called for the condemnation of the repression against the UOC and its parishioners. Corresponding appeals were sent to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, his assistant for human rights Ilze Brands Kehris, and the UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations Miguel Moratinos. These messages were then distributed as official documents of the Security Council and the General Assembly.

Corresponding efforts were also made with the relevant structures of the European Union, which largely continues to overlook the persecution of the UOC. In August 2023, the previous version of this Report was sent by the Permanent Mission of Russia to the EU to former EU Special Representative for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore, the EU Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief Frans van Daele, Managing Director of the European External Action Service for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Michael Siebert, and Vice-President of the European Commission for Promoting the European Way of Life Margaritis Schinas. In the transmittal letters from the Permanent Mission of Russia to the EU, it was specifically emphasised that the lack of public condemnation by the European Union of the Kiev authorities’ illegal actions against the UOC and its parishioners would only encourage Kiev to persist in its discriminatory policies, potentially deepening societal divisions. These documents received no response.

Russian representatives also used the OSCE platform to highlight cases of violations of believers’ rights, urging participating states to take notice.

Specifically, during meetings of the OSCE Permanent Council (on November 2, 2023, March 14, March 21, July 4, September 5, and October 24, 2024), the discriminatory actions of the Kiev regime in the realm of religious freedoms were extensively discussed. It was emphasised that the legislative registration of the persecution of the UOC constitutes a direct violation by Ukraine of several commitments it has undertaken within the OSCE framework. These include provisions from the Helsinki Final Act of the CSCE (1975), the Vienna Document of the CSCE (1989), the Copenhagen Document of the CSCE (1990), and decisions from the OSCE Ministerial Council in Maastricht (2003). In accordance with these documents, participating states have committed to respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience, religion, or belief. They are obligated to work towards preventing intolerance and violence based on religion or belief, and to ensure and promote individuals’ freedom to profess and practice their religion or belief, either alone or in community with others. This includes, when appropriate, adopting transparent laws, regulations, practices, and policies.

Russian diplomats have called on representatives of the relevant OSCE executive bodies, primarily the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and Personal Representative of the Maltese Chair-in-Office on Tolerance and Non-Discrimination, including against Christians, Regina Polak (Austria), to respond publicly to the intensifying repression against UOC believers in Ukraine. Similar appeals were also sent to OSCE officials through the Russian Permanent Mission. To date, no substantive replies have been received.

On August 22, 2024, observed as International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich commented on Ukraine’s newly-adopted law banning the UOC in an interview with RIA Novosti, calling on future OSCE officials to finally give honest assessments of the unprecedented acts of abuse and repression against canonical Orthodoxy on the part of the Ukrainian authorities.

In early 2024, the Public Advocacy human rights group announced international recognition of the cases of violation of the UOC’s rights and the consistent policy of discrimination against this church and restriction of its leaders and believers’ rights pursued by the Ukrainian authorities. That statement followed a joint request by the OHCHR Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Religion or Belief, on Minority Rights, and on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association regarding the violations of the UOC believers’ rights recorded in Ukraine, and the response of Ukraine’s Permanent Mission to the UN Office and other international organisations in Geneva to that request, published on January 29, 2024. The signatories of the request expressed concern about the persecution of the UOC and its believers for what the Special Rapporteurs recognised as lawful and peaceful exercise of the UOC believers’ rights to freedom of religion or belief, freedom of expression and freedom of association, enshrined in articles 18, 19 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Among other things, they pointed out that one of the UOC leaders had been served with a summons to appear in court on charges of inciting interfaith hatred and his residence had been searched, while another leader of the church had been given a real prison sentence by a court’s verdict. The Special Rapporteurs also highlighted Ukrainian courts’ decisions encouraging the authorities to seize the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra used by the UOC and the numerous searches that Ukrainian security forces conducted in UOC monasteries, offices, educational institutions and other premises in November 2022. They also expressed concern over the increasingly frequent manifestations of hatred and incitement to violence against UOC believers and clergy in various regions of Ukraine, predominantly in the country’s western regions.

According to Public Advocacy, although the UOC believers were undeniably subjected to unlawful persecution during 2022−2023, as well as in earlier periods, the Ukrainian Permanent Mission’s response to the Special Rapporteurs was incomplete and contained unreliable information in a number of clauses.

At the same time, experts point out that many major pro-Western NGOs, including Amnesty International and Freedom House, have not been reporting any violations of religious freedom in Ukraine, while highlighting similar violations in other countries.

In addition, calls on the international community to condemn the Kiev regime and take measures to end the persecution of canonical Orthodoxy in Ukraine also came from Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the State Duma and the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Permanent Commission on International Cooperation in Human Rights of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, and other bodies.

Numerous statements of support and solidarity with the UOC by local Orthodox churches and their leaders, as well as representatives of religious and civil groups around the world continue to be published.

The journalistic community has been very active in this regard, in particular influential Western journalist Tucker Carlson, who condemned the Kiev authorities’ discriminatory acts and the unlawful nature of Law No. 3894.

At the same time, unfortunately, problems faced by canonical Orthodoxy in Ukraine have not been made a priority by the United Nations or other relevant organisations. Their responses to appeals from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant international organisations merely state that they are monitoring the situation. Any stronger reaction or criticism that they occasionally issue remains selective and mild.

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