UOC Files Suit Against Government Over ‘Foreign Affiliation’ Inspections

Kyiv District Court. Photo: Investigator

KYIV — The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) has filed an administrative lawsuit against the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, seeking to overturn a recent government resolution that mandates inspections of religious organizations for ties to “foreign religious structures.” The UOC argues that the resolution, adopted on May 9, 2025, is unlawful and should be repealed.

The legal action, revealed on June 24, 2025, targets Cabinet Resolution No. 543, which outlines procedures for determining whether a religious organization is affiliated with a foreign group banned in Ukraine. The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience is listed as a third party in the case, which will be heard by Judge Aliona Kushnova of the Kyiv District Administrative Court.

Judge Kushnova previously upheld Ukraine’s “renaming law,” which compels the UOC to rebrand itself as linked to the Russian Orthodox Church.

The UOC maintains that the resolution is discriminatory and infringes on religious freedom. 

Meanwhile, Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, advisor to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, also criticized similar legislation in Estonia, stating that state interference in the Church’s internal structure is unacceptable.

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