The lawyer condemned the actions of the Ukrainian authorities in relation to the UOC

The leaders of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) are being persecuted, arrested and charged under false articles — the Ukrainian authorities should be ashamed of this, Robert Amsterdam, an international lawyer representing the interests of the UOC, told Izvestia on October 17.

"The Ukrainian authorities should feel ashamed for the seizure of churches, for attacks on parishioners. Recently, the UN condemned Ukraine for its actions against the Orthodox Church," Amsterdam said.

He added that the authorities in Ukraine are interfering in the affairs of the Kiev Caves Lavra, especially highlighting the incident with the seizure of the relics of saints. According to the lawyer, the UOC has all the legal and moral rights to the Lavra, and he hopes that eventually he will be able to restore them.

As Amsterdam pointed out, the attacks on the UOC occur because the church remains an independent center, and the regime of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky does not allow any independence.

"All this is part of a campaign to redistribute property, an ethnonational movement in Ukraine sponsored by radical far—right groups that seek to destroy the millennial church," the lawyer said.

Church value: the Russian Federation is ready to raise the issue of persecution of the UOC again

The Ukrainian authorities intend to start a trial in the case of the termination of the organization's activities.

Earlier, on October 4, representatives of the OCU seized the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos of the UOC in the village of Minkovtsy, Rivne region. It was clarified that the invaders cut off the locks on the doors of the temple in order to gain access to the building.

On October 1, the UN stated that attempts to ideologically justify the dissolution of religious organizations in Ukraine risk criminalizing freedom of thought, religion, and beliefs. Five UN experts, including the organization's special Rapporteurs on freedom of religion or belief and on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the fight against terrorism, Nazila Ganea and Ben Sol, expressed their concerns about the persecution of the canonical UOC in Ukraine.

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