The Russia-ukraine conflict and the state of affairs for the Ukrainian orthodox church

Abstract

The article analyses the changes in the state of affairs for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) that occurred after the beginning of the Special Military Operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine (February 2022). The leadership of the UOC has mainly agreed with the policy of Kiev, supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as providing aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This was evident in the statements of the UOC’s head, metropolitan Onufriy, and the declarations of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. However, despite the position of the UOC (and its peacemaking efforts), the state of affairs for this Church in Ukraine has generally deteriorated, including due to the rising pressure from the authorities (mainly in the western regions), the increase in the number of negative news in the media, and more frequent cases of seizure of churches, which were at times forcibly transferred to another jurisdiction (OCU). At the national level, the threats towards UOC were also present, with the registration of a bill in the Parliament, envisioning a complete ban of the Church (the consideration of this bill has been postponed). At the same time the decision to proclaim the autocephaly of the UOC, adopted at the council in Feofaniya in May 2022, did not lead to a fundamental improvement in the state of affairs for the Church.