Ukraine, August 15, 2025
MP Dubinsky also published a video of the appeal on X
Two Ukrainian parliamentarians have issued an appeal to President Donald Trump, highlighting the widespread persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and political repression under President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government.
The appeal comes from Olexandr Dubinsky, who has been held in pre-trial detention for over a year and a half on trumped-up treason charges, and Artem Dmytruk, a subdeacon of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who fled Ukraine after opposing legislation banning the canonical Orthodox Church on the parliamentary floor.
At the heart of their appeal is the fate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has been officially banned by the government. The MPs describe this as part of a broader campaign against religious freedom, with priests and faithful facing persecution through criminal charges and forced military mobilization.
“The largest Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, has been banned,” the MPs write in their letter, adding that priests are among those subjected to “unlawful, forced mobilization, which has become a tool of extrajudicial punishment.”
The parliamentarians state that over 7,000 individuals are now political prisoners in Ukraine, targeted for advocating for “God, peace, the end of the war” and constitutional governance. They argue that the crackdown extends beyond religious persecution to encompass the destruction of political opposition and the elimination of press freedoms.
The MPs specifically call on President Trump to make the release of political prisoners and the cessation of Orthodox Church persecution mandatory conditions in any future peace agreement. They warn that without addressing these issues, including lifting sanctions on Ukrainian citizens and guaranteeing electoral rights, “war will inevitably repeat itself in the shortest possible time.”
The appeal also points to the influence of external actors in supporting the current Ukrainian government’s policies.
Read the full statement below:
Photo: X
Photo: X
Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!
