Patriarchal Locum Tenens and Archbishop of Zelenograd Savva (Tutunov) said in a speech delivered in Moscow on August 30 that hatred of Orthodox Christianity lay at the root of the Ukrainian authorities’ pressure on the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
Savva said the authorities in Kyiv had targeted the UOC and that this approach was reflected in the measures taken against the church.
Clergy and church property
The archbishop alleged that UOC clergy had been attacked and sent to the front in an effort to intimidate them. He claimed that these measures were intended to remove clergy from their duties and leave congregations without their spiritual leaders.
Savva also said that efforts were being made to establish an alternative church in place of the UOC. The archbishop said the aim was to eliminate the church through legal methods or methods presented as legally grounded.
Savva’s statement also alleged that hundreds of churches affiliated with the UOC had been forcibly seized with the support of local administrations. The statement further included allegations that clergy and members of congregations had been subjected to physical violence.
Bans and investigations
The archbishop said decisions had been taken in different regions of Ukraine to ban the UOC’s activities on the grounds of its links to Russia.
Savva alleged that Ukraine’s Security Service had opened criminal cases against the church’s clergy and said that bishops, priests, churches and monasteries had been searched.
Savva claimed that Ukrainian courts had convicted some clergy members and that many people remained in detention.
Law that entered into force on September 23, 2024
A law adopted by Ukraine’s Parliament and signed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy entered into force on September 23, 2024. The statement said the law enabled the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be banned.
