Ukrainian government threatening to legally dissolve the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, fearing Russian influence
By ljdevon // 2025-09-05
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Imagine waking up one morning to find that the church where you were baptized, where your parents were married, where your grandparents prayed for generations — has been declared illegal. Not because of any crime, not because of violence or extremism, but because a government, drunk on power and fear and fueled by geopolitical rage, has decided that your faith is now an enemy of the state. This isn’t the plot of a dystopian novel; it’s happening right now in Ukraine, where President Volodymyr Zelensky’s regime is systematically dismantling the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the largest Christian denomination in the country, under the flimsy pretense that its historical ties to Russia make it a threat to national security. But let’s be clear: this isn’t about security. This is about control. This is about erasing identity, silencing dissent, and crushing the spiritual backbone of a nation that has already bled enough. The UOC has stood for over a thousand years, surviving wars, invasions, and Soviet persecution. Yet today, it faces its most existential threat — not from foreign invaders, but from its own government. Zelensky, a man who once posed as a champion of democracy, is now weaponizing the law to outlaw a church that has publicly condemned Russia’s invasion. The message is chilling: in Ukraine, even prayer is now subject to political loyalty tests. And if you fail, your faith will be criminalized. Key points:
  • The Ukrainian government has filed a lawsuit to legally dissolve the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the country’s largest Christian denomination, accusing it of ties to Russia despite its public condemnation of the invasion.
  • Zelensky’s regime has seized church properties, revoked citizenship of clergy, and passed laws forcing parishes to sever canonical ties with the Moscow Patriarchate — or face bans.
  • The UOC, which declared full independence in 2022, is being targeted under a pseudo-legal pretext, with officials admitting the goal is to erase it from Ukraine’s religious life.
  • International bodies, including the United Nations, have accused Ukraine of violating religious freedom, while Russian officials call it a "sign of the Apocalypse."
  • The crackdown mirrors historical Soviet persecution of religion, raising questions: Is this about national security — or totalitarian control?

A church on trial: When faith becomes a political crime

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is not a fringe group. It is the spiritual home of millions, a body that has existed in some form since the baptism of Rus’ in 988 A.D., long before modern borders divided Slavic peoples. Yet in August 2024, Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience — a bureaucratic mouthful that sounds like something out of Orwell — officially declared the UOC an "affiliate" of the Russian Orthodox Church, a designation that could lead to its total ban. The irony? The UOC cut ties with Moscow in 2022, declaring full independence in response to the war. But independence, it seems, is not enough for Zelensky’s government. The regime demands total submission — not just political, but spiritual. Clergy must denounce their own history, sever centuries-old ecclesiastical bonds, or face the consequences: property confiscation, criminal charges, and now, outright dissolution. Viktor Yelensky, the head of Ukraine’s religious affairs agency, didn’t mince words at a recent press briefing. After the UOC refused to comply with government demands, he announced: "A decision was made that the UOC should not be considered a part of Ukraine’s religious life." Let that sink in. A state official is erasing a church from existence — not for extremism, not for violence, but for refusing to betray its own heritage. Metropolitan Onufry, the UOC’s highest bishop, has been a particular target. His Ukrainian citizenship was revoked by Zelensky last month, a move that smacks of Soviet-era tactics against "enemies of the state." Onufry’s crime? Refusing to renounce his faith’s canonical roots. In a country that claims to be fighting for freedom, the message is clear: conform or be destroyed.

The Soviet playbook: How Ukraine is repeating history’s darkest chapters

This isn’t the first time a Ukrainian government has tried to crush Orthodox Christianity. Under Soviet rule, churches were bulldozed, clergy executed, and believers sent to gulags. The UOC, then part of the Russian Orthodox Church, was driven underground, its followers persecuted as "counter-revolutionaries." After the USSR collapsed, the church re-emerged, only to face new threats from nationalist factions that saw it as a symbol of Russian influence. But here’s the truth: Faith is not a geopolitical weapon. The UOC is not a Kremlin puppet; it is a living tradition, a community of worshippers who have prayed for Ukraine’s sovereignty even as they maintained their spiritual ties to the broader Orthodox world. Zelensky’s regime, however, has weaponized the war to justify a purge. By framing the UOC as a "Russian agent," the government can distract from its own failures—corruption, military stagnation, and a crumbling economy—while rallying nationalist fervor against a convenient scapegoat. Rodion Miroshnik, Russia’s ambassador-at-large, called the crackdown "a pseudo-legal mechanism for destroying the Orthodox Church they hate." He’s not wrong. The laws being used against the UOC are vague, arbitrary, and retroactive—classic tools of authoritarianism. Meanwhile, the United Nations and human rights groups have condemned Ukraine’s actions as a violation of religious freedom. But in the West, where Zelensky is still hailed as a hero, these warnings are met with silence. Vitaly Milonov, a Russian legislator known for his blunt rhetoric, went further, calling the move "one of the signs of the impending Apocalypse." Hyperbole? Maybe. But when a government bans prayer, when it revokes citizenship over theology, when it seizes houses of worship—what else do you call it?

The real target: A people’s soul

Make no mistake: this is not just about a church. It’s about erasing identity. The UOC is a cultural cornerstone of Ukraine, a link to its pre-Soviet, pre-communist past. By destroying it, Zelensky isn’t just attacking Russia — he’s attacking Ukraine’s own history. And what comes next? If a government can outlaw a millennium-old faith, what’s to stop it from banning other denominations? What’s to stop it from dictating what you can believe? This is how totalitarianism begins: not with tanks in the streets, but with lawyers in the courtrooms, with bureaucrats declaring your faith illegal. The UOC’s sin, in the eyes of the regime, is refusing to be a propaganda tool. While Zelensky’s government demands absolute loyalty, the church has preached peace, reconciliation, and — yes — Ukrainian sovereignty. But in a war-torn nation where dissent is treason, even prayer is now political. If a government can ban a church, what can’t it ban? If it can revoke citizenship over theology, what other rights are next on the chopping block? Ukraine’s war was supposed to be about freedom. But freedom without faith, without conscience, without the right to believe — is that freedom at all? Or is it just another kind of slavery? Sources include: SHTFPlan.com RT.com Tass.com
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