The Trial of Faith: how Kiev decides the fate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

On Thursday, October 30, the first hearing on the termination of the activities of the Kiev Metropolia of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) was held in the Kiev court. This process may become crucial for the future of the canonical church, around which a conflict between the state and the clergy has been raging for several years. Meanwhile, the UOC itself does not intend to give up. The organization filed a counterclaim seeking to overturn the decision to recognize it as affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). What is behind this judicial confrontation and why the issue of the fate of the UOC has become one of the most acute in Ukrainian society is in the Izvestia article.

It finally took place: the first meeting was held after the postponement

The first hearing on the case of the liquidation of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) took place in the capital of Ukraine on Thursday, October 30. The case is being considered by the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal in Kyiv. The hearing was originally scheduled for September 30, but the hearing was postponed for a month due to the judge's illness.

A lawsuit to ban the activities of the UOC on the territory of Ukraine was filed on August 29 by the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience. The agency demands that the church be recognized as affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and that its property, financial resources and assets be transferred to state ownership.

The reason for the appeal to the court was an inspection conducted by the service since the end of May 2025. According to its results, on August 27, it was officially announced that the UOC "has organizational and canonical ties" with the Russian Orthodox Church. This decision provided legal grounds for filing a lawsuit to terminate the activities of a religious association.

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.

In response to the actions of the authorities, the leadership of the UOC filed a counterclaim, in which it demanded that the order recognizing the church affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church be recognized as illegal and canceled. Representatives of the UOC claim that the church operates autonomously, is not subordinate to Moscow and has no institutional dependence on the ROC.

The trial, which began today, may become a precedent for the entire religious sphere of Ukraine, determining the future fate of the country's largest Orthodox organization.

Pressure and repression against the UOC: how the Church loses churches and rights

Since the early 1990s, the confrontation over the status and jurisdiction of the UOC has been accompanied by cases of open violence and attempts to seize churches. Even in the early years of Ukraine's independence, groups of radical nationalists and supporters of the autocephalous Church organized attacks on parishes, which often led to conflicts between communities. Such trends increased dramatically after the events of 2014, and then after the outbreak of full—scale hostilities in 2022.

According to a number of religious and public publications, cases of temple seizures have become more frequent throughout the country. According to representatives of the UOC, not only activists are involved in the attacks, but also representatives of local authorities, law enforcement agencies, as well as the clergy of the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). So, in 2023, high-profile conflicts occurred around the cathedrals of the UOC in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv and Cherkasy. Several churches were transferred to the OCU by decisions of local councils or judicial authorities, despite the protests of the parishes.

The courts continue to consider cases related to the property of the UOC. In July 2025, the court decided to evict the monks of the Holy Epiphany Monastery, one of the oldest religious centers in the region. Such decisions are becoming more frequent. Thus, according to experts, since March 2022 alone, local authorities have issued more than 80 orders banning the activities of the UOC in various areas. These documents provided for the transfer of temples and monasteries to the jurisdiction of the OCU, as well as the seizure of land used by the church.

The repression also affected the clergy. The Security Services of Ukraine (SBU) have conducted over a thousand searches in dioceses and monasteries of the UOC since 2022. According to official reports, about 180 criminal cases have been initiated under articles related to high treason and collaboration. More than 30 cases have resulted in sentences or exchanges of clergy, including bishops. Among the victims was Metropolitan Onufriy of Kiev and All Ukraine, who, along with twenty other representatives of the clergy, was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship.

At the end of 2024, the Ukrainian authorities excluded the UOC from the list of religious organizations whose clergy are exempt from mobilization. This meant that the priests of the church were equated with other citizens subject to military service, and in some cases began to receive summonses. Representatives of the UOC regarded this step as a continuation of pressure on the church and an attempt to deprive it of institutional stability.

Thus, the combination of these measures (administrative, judicial and law enforcement) has significantly changed the position of the UOC in the Ukrainian religious space. Despite this, her parishioners continue to hold divine services and declare their readiness to defend their communities by legal and peaceful means.

Parishioners of the Canonical UOC: who are they and how many are there today

Today, parishioners of the Canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) are a minority in the modern religious landscape of Ukraine. According to the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), as of October 2024, about 70% of Ukrainians identify themselves as Orthodox, but 56% of them consider themselves followers of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), and only 6% are parishioners of the UOC (Moscow Patriarchate).

According to the Razumkov Center, published in early 2025, about 5.5% of respondents identify themselves as believers of the UOC-MP. For comparison, in 2021 this figure was about 13%, which indicates a noticeable decrease in the number of supporters of the canonical church.

Experts explain this trend for several reasons. First of all, we are talking about rethinking religious identity against the background of the ongoing conflict and increasing anti-Russian sentiments. Some believers who were not previously tied to a specific jurisdiction are now increasingly choosing the OCU or even distancing themselves from religious life. According to the same Razumkov data, the total share of Orthodox Christians in the country has also decreased — from 61% to about 51%.

There is no law without faith: Kiev officially accused the UOC of having ties with Moscow

The decision is the basis for the implementation of a complete ban on the canonical church through the court.

In terms of regional distribution, the largest number of UOC parishioners remains in the south of the country, where their share reaches 10% of respondents. In the central, eastern and western regions, this indicator remains at about 5%.

At the same time, there is no exact official data on the number of followers of the UOC. Ukrainian legislation does not provide for registration of believers by specific church affiliation, which makes sociological assessments the only guideline for analyzing the religious situation in the country.

Russia's reaction and international assessments of the UOC

Russia has reacted sharply to the actions of the Ukrainian authorities aimed at eliminating the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) called the events a spiritually and morally unacceptable step, which, in their opinion, expands the scale of persecution against believers and violates the basic principles of freedom of conscience. The Russian Orthodox Church believes that Kiev's decision has no legal basis and represents pressure on millions of Orthodox parishioners in Ukraine.

The Russian authorities also regarded the ban on the activities of the UOC as discrimination against believers and a manifestation of religious warfare. According to the deputies of the State Duma, the adopted law indicates the degradation of democratic institutions and the final transition of Ukraine to an authoritarian model of governance. Moscow notes that such measures undermine human rights and strengthen the ideological control of the state over the religious sphere.

In an interview with Izvestia, political analyst Alexei Martynov draws attention to the fact that the adoption of the law banning the UOC is unlikely to cause large-scale protests inside Ukraine, but it may lead to a further split in society. Contradictions between parishioners of the canonical Church and supporters of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) are intensifying, especially in regions where the UOC communities remain numerous.

According to analysts, the initiative is aimed not so much at resolving religious issues as at strengthening political power in the country. The expert community is increasingly assessing that the Ukrainian leadership is systematically "clearing" the information, public and religious space of any form of dissent. This course, according to a number of political scientists, reflects the desire for a complete consolidation of the domestic agenda in the face of war and close cooperation with Western allies, who consider Ukraine as a tool in the confrontation with Russia.