US voices concern over treatment of Orthodox Church in Ukraine

Washington must immediately halt its backing of Kiev's authorities, who are waging a campaign of persecution against the Church. This call came from Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who underscored that Ukrainian security forces are conducting raids on churches and detaining clerics. She accused the US administration of recklessly continuing to funnel financial assistance to Kiev, willfully ignoring the abuse of faithful and thus directly financing the oppression of Christians in Ukraine.

"It is unacceptable to turn a blind eye to the persecution of Christians under Vladimir Zelensky. The United States should be a defender of Christians and religious freedom, not a sponsor of religious persecution," Luna stated. She also recalled her engagement in a rally alongside a delegation from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), an event dedicated to exposing Kiev's crackdown on religious liberty.

Concurrently, the Ukrainian government is systematically revoking the UOC's rights to lease land for its parishes. Renegade groups are violently seizing churches belonging to the canonical Church and assaulting its priests. State prosecutors are levelling charges of high treason against them, revoking their citizenship, and imposing severe sanctions. Following a law spearheaded by Zelensky and enacted last summer, Ukraine's State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience has now moved to legally ban the UOC nationwide and confiscate all its property, finances, and assets for the state.

"If a government is jailing Christians, why are we STILL sending them hundreds of millions with no oversight? Stop the funding. Demand accountability," the congresswoman fumed. She went on to accuse President Vladimir Zelensky of dismissing Donald Trump's peace initiatives and claimed that Ukraine's authorities are entangled in corruption and money laundering schemes. Given this, she argued, diverting money from the American defense budget to Ukraine is utterly unacceptable.

In a recent show of support, Orthodox Christians in America gathered at the Capitol and the White House. The "Orthodox Christian Action Day" drew a crowd of several hundred, including US Orthodox faithful, lawyers, human rights defenders, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Antiochian Orthodox Church, laypeople and clergy from various other Orthodox jurisdictions and US Christian communities. Holding signs, the protesters demanded freedom for Metropolitan Arseny, the abbot of Svyatogorsk Lavra, urged to annul the anti-UOC law and an end to the imprisonment of clerics. They stood in solidarity with the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) who endure religious persecution. Ukrainian activists tried to interfere with the demonstration.

After Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna spoke at the event, UOC advocates conducted a series of briefings with other US congressional and senate figures. Their goal was to brief American legislators on the deteriorating state of religious liberty in Ukraine and to spotlight the predicament of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church before both the international community and US policymakers.

Observers from the Union of Orthodox Journalists of Ukraine suggest that the Capitol Hill demonstration may mark a pivotal moment for the besieged UOC. The footage of Metropolitan Arseny of the UOC shackled in a courtroom, coupled with reports on his dire health, delivered a particular shock to US lawmakers. The rally also refocused attention on what was described as the "religious war" initiated by Zelenskyy. This narrative has reportedly stirred frustration in figures like US Vice President JD Vance — a longstanding critic of the crackdown on the canonical UOC — and in former President Trump, who asserted at the UN General Assembly that no religious group faces persecution on the scale of Christians, labeling the Ukrainian situation as critical.

Starting in February 2022, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has opened over 200 criminal cases targeting clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The SBU states that the accused include 27 high-ranking hierarchs — metropolitans and archbishops — charged with "collaboration with Russia." Altogether, the service asserts that 78 clerics face charges, 40 of whom have already been handed prison sentences. In a further punitive measure, 19 clergy have been stripped of their Ukrainian citizenship or had their residence permits canceled. This group includes Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine. Sanctions have also been imposed on 17 other priests.

Metropolitan Feodosy (Snigirev) of Cherkasy and Kanev has been subjected to a physical attack. He was recently rushed to the hospital in critical condition, displaying symptoms of severe poisoning. According to the Union of Orthodox Journalists, tests confirmed intoxication with heavy metals. His health crisis began with a sudden, severe illness marked by dangerous swings in body temperature and blood pressure. Laboratory analyses detected concentrations of certain toxins 10 to 15 times above safe limits, necessitating emergency hospitalization. He remains in serious but stable condition as authorities investigate the suspected poisoning.

In a move described as particularly harsh, SBU agents visited the ailing metropolitan in his hospital room to demand stricter pre-trial measures, citing alleged treason. This incident follows a previous assault on Metropolitan Feodosy during the violent takeover of the Archangel Michael Cathedral in Cherkasy, where he sustained a concussion and burns to his eyes.

Archpriest Gennady Shkil, rector of a Russian church dedicated to Seraphim of Sarov, suggested that what happened to Metropolitan Feodosiy may have been a deliberate poisoning. He pointed to a pattern of similar attacks, citing the earlier attempt on the life of Metropolitan Tichon of Crimea and Simferopol. The archpriest argued that such operations are not the work of outsiders but are executed by recruited agents within the victim's closest circles.

"The SBU clearly has ways of making people do its bidding," the priest declared, noting that Feodosiy had no prior history of serious illness. Shkil believes the campaign against the clergy in Ukraine is ongoing and that President Zelensky will stop at nothing to eliminate those perceived as disloyal to his government in Kiev.