UOC Secures Procedural Victory in Ongoing Liquidation Case

KYIV — The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) secured a procedural victory in its ongoing legal battle with Ukraine's State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) after the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal granted a motion filed by the Church's legal team.

According to UOC attorney Archpriest Nikita Chekman, the appellate court postponed consideration of the DESS lawsuit seeking the liquidation of the UOC's Kyiv Metropolis. The next hearing has been scheduled for July 22, 2026, at 10 a.m. Church representatives called on the faithful to support the proceedings through prayer as the case continues.

As reported by UOJ-Ukraine, the dispute between the Church and state authorities has been unfolding since September 2025, when DESS initiated legal action aimed at dissolving the Kyiv Metropolis, which would effectively dissolve the entire Church as that is where administration is headquartered. In response, Church attorneys filed a counterclaim seeking to have the actions of the head of DESS declared unlawful and to invalidate the order authorizing the controversial religious studies examination of the UOC Statute.

The legal proceedings have already produced several favorable rulings for the Church. On May 19, 2026, Ukraine's Administrative Court of Cassation upheld the Metropolis's appeal, overturning an earlier decision that had separated the Church's counterclaims. Prior to that, an appellate court had determined that the DESS religious examination lacked legal validity.

Previously, the UOJ reported that the UOC challenged the legality of the State Service.