Kyiv, Sep 5 (AP) The Ukrainian government has announced its intention to potentially ban a branch of the Orthodox Church due to its alleged failure to cut ties with Moscow. This development highlights the intricate role of religion as Ukraine continues to defend against the Russian invasion. Orthodoxy, the dominant religion in both Russia and Ukraine, has become a cultural and spiritual front in the broader conflict.
This action follows the Ukrainian Parliament's decision last year to prohibit the Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church because of its overt support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The law also enabled the Ukrainian government to ban any organizations linked to the Russian church. Consequently, an investigation into the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which historically had ties to Moscow, was initiated.
The UOC condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion from its onset in 2022, declaring its independence from the Moscow church that same year. It reiterated its stance again in 2025. However, the government alleges that the UOC has not taken all necessary measures, such as amending its governing documents, to solidify this separation.
The August 27 government decision, while expected, requires further legal steps to be fully enacted. The government has filed a court petition to ban the UOC's activities. Should the church lose the case, it would be entitled to a single appeal to a higher court before the decision becomes final — a process that its lawyer estimates could be concluded within months.
The determination that the UOC remains linked to Moscow was issued by the State Service of Ukraine on Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, known by its Ukrainian acronym, DESS.
Under the law, certain UOC congregations might also be barred from utilizing property they do not own, which is significant in a nation where the state controls many historic church properties.
The measure specifically targets the “Kyiv Metropolis” of the UOC — essentially its leadership hub. Metropolitan Onufry, its head bishop, has already had his Ukrainian citizenship revoked. Similar sanctions could be imposed on other UOC-affiliated entities, such as monasteries and regional eparchies.
In 2022, the UOC declared itself independent from Moscow, making ritualistic changes such as not mentioning Moscow Patriarch Kirill in its services. Kirill is a staunch supporter of the Russian invasion and in 2024 presided over a council that labeled the conflict a holy war.
Earlier this year, DESS urged the UOC to take additional measures to demonstrate its full separation from Moscow, suggesting that the UOC should formally object to the Russian church seizing control of its churches in Russian-occupied territories. Onufry denied further steps were necessary, asserting past declarations of independence were sufficient. The government disagreed.
The DESS website proclaimed: “This is not a religious organization, but a branch of an aggressor state.”
UOC attorney Robert Amsterdam, in a statement, accused the government of ignoring the UOC’s separation from Moscow and the actions it had taken to prove this, including establishing parishes abroad for Ukrainian refugees, which he said demonstrated independence. He further alleged the government’s actions were politically driven to dismantle autonomous institutions within the country.
Moreover, the government has pursued criminal charges against several UOC clerics, accusing them of collaborating with Russia.
About 70 percent of Ukrainians identify as Orthodox, according to a 2024 survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
Only a small fraction of them identified with the UOC, which, according to the survey, is affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate — a designation the UOC disputes. Despite this, the UOC continues to maintain numerous parishes and monasteries in Ukraine.
Most Orthodox Ukrainians surveyed affiliate with the rival Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which gained recognition as an independent church in 2019 from Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.
Though Bartholomew is regarded as first among equals among Orthodox patriarchs, he lacks any definitive authority similar to the Catholic Pope. Moscow has challenged his authority to recognize a church within what it considers its territory. Russian leaders have even pointed to this schism and US backing for the new church as instigators of the current conflict.
At a recent press conference, DESS head Viktor Yelensky stated that individual parishes might choose their own affiliations. He emphasized that the action wasn’t about religious doctrine but about connections to an aggressor state. “Nobody has asked them to deny their religious beliefs,” he declared.
The long-standing controversy over the UOC has influenced debates concerning US assistance to Ukraine, particularly with President Donald Trump’s administration taking a more skeptical stance on such aid. Critics of supporting Ukraine have accused it of suppressing religious freedoms.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom expressed concerns in 2024 over the law prohibiting Moscow-affiliated religious organizations but stressed that “Russia remains the most profound threat to religious freedom in Ukraine,” with repression observed in Russian-occupied territories.
A 2024 report by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights also highlighted the law’s potential to “hold entire religious communities accountable for the actions of certain individuals.” It further noted Russian-imposed restrictions on religious freedom in occupied areas affecting groups including Catholics, Muslims, and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Conflicts connected to the war have impacted Orthodox communities in the United States. Notably, an Alaskan archbishop’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in August drew significant controversy. (AP) RD RD
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