Austrian Think Tank: Ukrainian Government Waging Systematic Campaign Against UOC

Photo: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

A new report by Austria’s ABC Political Studies think tank has spotlighted what it describes as a sustained and systematic campaign by the Ukrainian government to pressure and marginalize the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). Despite these efforts, the UOC remains one of Ukraine’s largest religious communities, maintaining millions of faithful both at home and abroad.

Published on the center’s official website, the analysis outlines a series of state actions, including the revocation of Metropolitan Onuphry’s citizenship, criminal charges against prominent figures like Vadym Novynskyi, and the imprisonment of multiple bishops and priests - an unprecedented development in Ukraine’s modern history.

The report also notes that diplomatic appeals, including from U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, have failed to shift the Ukrainian government’s stance toward the Church. This resistance is especially striking given that in 2019, an estimated 95% of UOC believers voted for President Volodymyr Zelensky, hopeful he would reverse the anti-Church policies of his predecessor.

Meanwhile, according to OCU-affiliated expert Andriy Smyrnov, the UOC leadership is unlikely to comply with the controversial draft law No. 3894. He suggests the Church may delay action until after the war, when its legal and public status may be reevaluated.

Previously, UOJ reported that the Ukrainian government’s directives to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) have effectively become instruments of repression, according to OSCE expert on religious freedom Natallia Vasylevych.

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