London, July 28, 2025
Met. Onuphry and lawyer Robert Amsterdam. Photo: x.com
On July 8, prominent international lawyer Robert Amsterdam, who is providing pro bono legal representation to the persecuted Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), issued urgent appeals to both Orthodox Church leaders worldwide and the heads of major Western nations and organizations regarding the systematic persecution of Ukraine’s largest Christian denomination.
In his letter to Orthodox Church leaders, Amsterdam calls for coordinated intervention to halt the unprecedented assault on religious freedom in Ukraine. The appeal comes as the Ukrainian government enforces Law 3894, legislation designed to ban the UOC, while simultaneously stripping His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, the Church’s spiritual leader, of his Ukrainian citizenship.
Amsterdam urges Orthodox primates to speak out against the persecution and coordinate efforts to convene an urgent council to address “the catastrophe engulfing the UOC.” The letter places particular emphasis on the role of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, arguing that his 2019 decision to grant autocephaly to the rival Orthodox Church of Ukraine has created the conditions for the current crisis and that he now bears responsibility for intervening to protect religious rights.
Read his complete letter to Orthodox leaders:
Voice of Orthodox Ukraine
Amsterdam’s parallel letter to Western leaders, including the U.S. President, UK Prime Minister, and European Union leadership, covers much of the same ground but takes a notably different approach by framing the persecution as a violation of Ukraine’s international legal obligations and democratic commitments. While the letter to Orthodox leaders focuses on ecclesiastical unity and the need for coordinated Church intervention, the appeal to Western nations emphasizes Ukraine’s violations of the European Convention on Nationality and the European Convention on Human Rights.
The letter to world leaders also provides more detailed biographical information about Met. Onuphry, describing him as a Ukrainian-born religious figure who has lived continuously in Ukraine since independence and has consistently denounced the Russian war. Amsterdam specifically addresses accusations that defending the UOC amounts to supporting Russian interests, arguing that such claims ignore the Church’s 2022 declaration of full independence from the Moscow Patriarchate and the fact that thousands of UOC members are serving on Ukraine’s front lines.
The appeal concludes with a pointed warning that Ukraine’s actions against religious minorities threaten its aspirations for EU membership and democratic development:
Photo: First Cossack
Photo: First Cossack
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