"This is the go-ahead for the OCU to mass seize churches"

The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience has issued an official decision that the Canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) is an organization affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). Experts interviewed by Izvestia believe that this decision will enable a complete ban on the canonical church through the courts. In the meantime, Kiev will increase pressure on representatives of the UOC, which involves the confiscation of property in favor of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), the freezing of accounts, and restrictions on representatives of the UOC.

"State persecution of the UOC will begin"

Pressure on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will increase dramatically, says Bogdan Bezpalko, a political scientist and member of the Council on Interethnic Relations under the President of the Russian Federation.

"Obviously, the state persecution of the UOC as the most authoritative national institution associated with Russia has already begun. Most likely, this will mean the seizure of accounts, the transfer of temples — either with the help of the police or with the help of some kind of government structures. It's just that the process is going to get more intense now.

The top of the UOC has already tried to surrender on honorable terms. Only a few turned out to be courageous enough to openly confront what was happening. One of the bishops is in prison, someone is being tried. The rest hoped that they would be attracted to work in the same status. But they are sentenced to be dissolved, and therefore, most likely, they will have to be content with what the Ukrainian state offers them: to accept the conditions that they will be given — to join the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and submit to the new authorities."

"There will be an appeal to the court and, in fact, a ban on the activities of the UOC"

Kiev's next step is to completely ban the UOC through the courts, says Vladimir Oleinik, a member of the Other Ukraine movement and former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada.

"Following the satanic and draconian law adopted in 2024, there will be an appeal to the court and, in fact, a ban on the activities of the UOC. And it is clear that we will be talking about the confiscation of property. What they used to do out of lawlessness, that is, without any legislative support, is now being done through laws that allow the seizure of property from the church."

"Kiev does not have enough political maps to bargain in the negotiations"

The decision of the State Service of Ukraine on Ethnopolitics and freedom of Conscience is another element of the escalation strategy on the part of Ukraine, said Ivan Loshkarev, Associate professor of Political Theory at the MGIMO Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.

"The consequences of this decision are set out in the law on the prohibition of the UOC adopted in 2024. It is possible to terminate property relations, withdraw reservations for conscription for priests, seize bank funds, demolish church buildings in the city, ban certain movements of priests, for example, in the rear area. The most important consequence is political. The state has taken a decisive step to discredit the church in the eyes of believers and representatives of other faiths. In fact, this is a go-ahead for the OCU to mass seize churches and use violence against the parishioners of the UOC.

The Ukrainian side is showing its intransigence on an issue that is not of a political nature. Who prays and how is a humanitarian issue, its politicization means that Kiev does not have enough political cards to bargain in negotiations."