Expert: Support for OCU Is Fading
The Kyiv Theological Academy professor speculates that the Ukrainian government's campaign against the canonical Church is no longer drawing members away from the UOC.
KYIV — Serhiy Bortnyk, a professor at the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary, reported at a round table organized by the “Sophia Brotherhood” on April 29, 2025, that the information campaign targeting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) only briefly boosted support for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).
Citing Razumkov Center data from October 2024, Bortnyk noted a 7.3% drop in Orthodox identification from 2022 to 2024 (62.7% to 55.4%), with a 6.7% rise in those unaffiliated with any religion.
OCU affiliation peaked at 42.2% in 2023 but fell to 35.2% in 2024, while UOC support remained stable at 5.5%.
The largest decline was among “simply Orthodox” (19% to 13.7%), particularly in Ukraine’s south and east.
Bortnyk argues this reflects growing disengagement from a conflict-ridden religious sphere.
However, according to a study published by the Fordham Orthodox Center, the government of Ukraine is manipulating statistics to inflate the OCU’s membership numbers. The Fordham study speculates that the UOC may, in fact, be larger than the OCU.
