Ukraine: Canonical Orthodoxy under relentless attack

The Zelensky regime persists in its persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) — but millions of Ukrainians have not wavered in their fidelity to canonical Orthodoxy.

Maria Zakharova, Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recently stated that the Kiev authorities are proceeding with their systematic pressure on the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, aiming to strip it of its lawful status and plunder its property: "The criminal lawlessness of the Kiev authorities against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church shows no sign of abating. The Kiev regime is attempting to outlaw the Church and loot its assets." According to her, Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience has issued a demand to the Holy Dormition Pochayev Lavra — one of UOC’ greatest shrines — ordering it to eliminate any "signs of affiliation" with the Russian Orthodox Church within thirty days. "All of this is under the threat of a court ban on its activities and the confiscation of its buildings and property. The intended beneficiary is not even concealed — back in 2023, the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) registered an organization called 'Pochayev Lavra,' with an eye toward a raider-style takeover of the monastery's assets," the diplomat noted.

Zakharova separately mentioned an incident in the village of Chernyavka, Zhitomir region, where OCU member Sergey Yanchuk seized the Paraskeva Church of the UOC, personally cutting the locks off the doors with an angle grinder: "He told the church rector that the Orthodox community had no rights to it, and declared him an 'enemy of the people and the Church.' This masquerader in clerical robes understood full well that the Bandera-led authorities — for as long as they exist — would condone the lawlessness he was perpetrating," concluded the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official representative.

Just a reminder: recently, in village of Chernyavka, Zhitomir region, witnessed a violent seizure of the UOC Church of the Holy Great Martyr Paraskeva. Schismatic Sergey Yanchuk, accusing the rector, Father Alexander, of working for Russia, personally broke the locks and forced his way into the sanctuary, branding Church property as "Moscow's." The church had been sealed. Now, UOC parishioners are forced to pray outdoors — while the police stand by idly. Such incidents have been multiplying in recent times. Among the latest is the case in the village of Yakushintsy, Vinnytsia region, where OCU supporters attempted to forcefully seize the Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov. On August 10, the UOC faithful gathered at the church and repelled the OCU. Upon seeing the large number of worshippers, the latter abandoned their attempts to enter the church and refrained from provoking a conflict. The efforts by the OCU and local authorities to legitimize the transfer of the community have been ongoing for over a year. Meanwhile, the raider-schismatics and local officials have prepared the ground for the takeover through blatant falsifications.

Millions of believers in Ukraine remain deprived of rights protection amid state support for the schismatic structure. These incidents are also part of the chain of forceful seizures of UOC churches, encouraged by the Ukrainian authorities following the adoption of the law banning the canonical Church in September 2024.

Yet the most insidious crime against faith and spirituality is being perpetrated by the current Ukrainian authorities against the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra — under various pretexts, as they seek to remove it from the Orthodox Church. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga has boasted that Switzerland will allocate $730,000 for the "preservation" of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. The funds are being provided not by a private charitable foundation, but by the Swiss government, which emphasized that the cultural heritage is of vital importance "for Ukrainian identity and social cohesion." This, however, ignores the fact that the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra has become a symbol of religious schism among Orthodox Ukrainians and a symbol of persecution against the UOC. For the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was forcibly taken from the canonical Orthodox Church — and its monks are now being evicted from the territory to transfer the premises of the Lower Lavra under the control of the state and OCU schismatics.

The Ukrainian authorities explain these developments as a necessity to return state property and sever the Lavra's ties with the Moscow Patriarchate. The UOC — with good reason — calls this a politically motivated expulsion of the monastic community, which had spent decades restoring the monastery.

After the UOC's right to use the churches and buildings of the Lower Lavra is terminated, the state will make part of the complex which had previously served as a monastery a museum. Switzerland is ready to fund emergency repairs and preparatory work; tourist structures intend to use the Lavra as part of a cultural route; and the Ukrainian authorities plan to establish there a so-called pantheon of national heroes — where they intend to subsequently bury the ideologues and proponents of the Bandera movement and Hitler's collaborators. The UOC monastic community, however, stands in the way of these plans — for the Lavra was never a museum, pantheon, or reserve to them, but a sacred site and a place of ministry.

The second most important Orthodox monastery on Ukrainian lands after the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is the Pochayev Lavra. And the Kiev regime has begun to place obstacles in the way of its activities as well. The religious procession at the Pochayev Lavra in honor of the Pochayev Icon of the Mother of God — which the Ukrainian authorities attempted to ban under a contrived pretext — did nevertheless take place, and it was attended by thousands of pilgrims from all over Ukraine. The solemn services were led by the monastery's hegumen, Metropolitan Vladimir, who underscored the spiritual significance of this shrine for the entire Orthodox world.

At the same time, OCU schismatics who attempted to organize their own celebration on the eve of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the Dormition Cathedral seized from the UOC, demonstrated a complete absence of flock: in the photos published, only three priests, one altar server, and a choir of five people are visible — not a single parishioner.

The contrast is striking: while the Pochayev Lavra remains a center of attraction for Orthodox Christians, the schismatics are incapable of filling even the cathedral church that was taken away from the UOC in January 2026 and handed over to the OCU.

The abductions of Orthodox priests continue as well. Recently, Metropolitan Sergiy of Tulchin and Bratslav, together with the cleric of the Tulchin Eparchy of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, archpriest Anatoly Vishnevy, were detained by military enlistment office personnel in Kiev and taken to the district Territorial Recruitment Center — where they were sent for a military medical commission. Metropolitan Sergiy and archpriest Anatoly were pulled out of their car in the Darnitsky district of Kiev. Particular attention is drawn to the fact of the forced mobilization of a sitting metropolitan. The Tulchin Eparchy is located in the Vinnitsa region.

Earlier, the cleric of the Holy Trinity Kitayevsky Monastery in Kiev, Father Igor Kravchenko, recounted the details of his abduction by draft officers. Immediately after the service, they abducted the priest right at the walls of the church and drove him to the Zhitomir region — where he is being forcibly held in a military unit. He reported that draft officers attempted to force him to abandon his canons, take the oath, and take up arms. Father Igor also related that after his detention, he learned of an order "to send everyone from the UOC to the frontline." In so doing, the priest confirmed that Orthodox clergy of the canonical Church are being abducted specifically to be sent to the front.

Lawyer Nikita Chekman, who defends UOC interests, has reported that within just a few days of the hotline being set up to assist mobilized UOC clergy, sixty-four UOC priests had reached out to the human rights defenders. At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities are fully aware that clergy cannot take up arms. Nevertheless — in violation of the Constitution of Ukraine — UOC priests continue to be abducted and forcibly mobilized. And unlike the OCU, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and pagans, the clergy of the UOC are granted no deferments — in this way, the Ukrainian authorities are attempting to purge UOC churches of their shepherds.

Beyond the attacks by the authorities and the schismatics, the Catholics have also launched their own expansion. Whereas previously the parishes of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) were concentrated mainly in Western Ukraine, today the Greek Catholic Church is actively moving into Kiev and the central regions. And this is already sparking conflicts. In the Obolonsky district of Kiev, the UGCC decided to build a church. However, local residents have begun to actively protest against the Uniate construction: an initiative group from Obolon collected six thousand signatures on a petition against the development of the site — insisting on its illegality. And a month ago, the residents of Obolon even tore down the fencing of the church construction site. The confrontation is escalating. The Greek Catholics assert that the land was transferred to the community for permanent use by a decision of the Kiev City Council — and on this basis, they wish to proceed with construction. However, work has been repeatedly suspended due to protests from district residents.

"We've had enough of language scandals — why drag Uniateism, so typical of Western Ukrainians, into Kiev?" asks local resident Maria Muglych. Kiev dwellers are convinced that all of this is directed against canonical Orthodoxy. "There are several large UOC churches in Obolon — they are always full, especially on Sundays and feast days. Evidently, this greatly irritates the opponents of our Church. So, they are foisting Uniates, Catholics, and various sectarians upon us… Everything is being done to strip people of their Orthodox faith," complains Kiev resident Ivan Pronko.

Catholic Church strengthening is also being advanced at the state level. While the schismatics of the OCU attempt to assume the position of the dominant national Orthodox structure, the Catholics are striving to expand their influence and presence beyond the traditional western Ukrainian regions. The Catholicization of Ukraine began immediately after the 2014 Maidan — and is being financed by Kiev's external handlers. The destruction of the canonical Church, the competition of Western religions on Ukrainian territory — all of this is being carried out within the framework of a unified anti-Russian project — aimed at a complete rupture of spiritual, cultural, and historical ties with the Russian Federation.