Kiev, August 29, 2025
rbc.ru
The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) announced on August 27 its decision to recognize the Kiev Metropolia of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, whose activities are banned in Ukraine under the law “On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Religious Organizations.”
The decision follows a months-long investigation that began in May 2025 into possible ties between the Kiev Metropolia—the central administrative body of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church led by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine—and the Moscow Patriarchate.
Investigation findings
DESS investigators identified four main signs of affiliation:
- The UOC’s status of “independence and autonomy in its administration,” granted by the ROC in 1990, does not constitute full independence (autocephaly) but rather represents a limited form of autonomy within the ROC structure. The investigation cited the 1990 Charter from His Holiness Patriarch Alexei II, claiming it states the UOC is connected to universal Orthodoxy “through the Russian Orthodox Church.”
However, the current UOC statutes, updated in May 2022, reference the 1990 gramota only in terms of administrative independence:
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is independent and self-governing in its administration and structure in accordance with the Gramota of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’ Alexy II from October 27, 1990. The governing center of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is located in Kiev.
The statutes make no mention of being connected to world Orthodoxy through the Russian Church. Instead, they clearly state:
The highest organs of Church authority and governance of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church headed by the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine.
- The UOC’s statutory documents retain reference to the 1990 Moscow Patriarchal Charter, which the investigation interprets as maintaining structural ties to the ROC, despite the UOC’s position that this reference pertains only to administrative independence.
- Chapter X of the ROC Statute, added in 2017 at the proposal of Metropolitan Onuphry himself, contains provisions that the investigation says are binding on the UOC, including requirements that ROC decisions are obligatory for the UOC and that the Metropolitan of Kiev serves as a permanent member of the ROC Holy Synod.
- ROC documents mandate that UOC bishops are members of ROC councils and must participate in their work, with the Metropolitan of Kiev listed as a permanent member of the ROC Holy Synod.
Reliance on Russian documents
The investigation relied heavily on ROC documents and decisions rather than the UOC’s own updated statutes. At a May 27, 2022 council, the UOC adopted new statutes removing references to the ROC and declaring its independence. However, DESS investigators argued that because these changes were not accompanied by formal notification to the ROC or explicit declarations rejecting specific ROC provisions, they were insufficient.
Met. Onuphry criticized this approach in his response earlier this month, stating that the investigation based its results “predominantly on documents of a foreign state that carried out armed aggression against Ukraine” rather than on current UOC documents. He noted that DESS used “publications from various internet resources, a significant number of which are also posted on websites of the state that carried out military aggression against Ukraine.” The Metropolitan questioned why investigators would “recognize the legitimacy for Ukraine of documents from foreign organizations of a state that carried out military aggression against Ukraine and/or temporarily occupied part of Ukraine’s territory.”
Metropolitan Onuphry’s response
In his August 16 response to DESS’s ultimatum demanding additional proof of separation from Moscow, Metropolitan Onuphry called the order “fictitious” and a “gross interference” in Church affairs that violates both Ukrainian and international law. Several media outlets incorrectly reported that Metropolitan Onuphry refused to provide information about the UOC’s separation from the ROC, when in fact his statement argued that the demanded proofs were illegitimate and that the UOC had already clearly established its independence.
He emphasized that the UOC was never properly notified about the investigation when it began in May, receiving the ultimatum only on July 21 with no opportunity to present evidence in its defense. The Metropolitan particularly criticized DESS for basing its investigation on a 2019 religious examination despite significant changes adopted at the Church’s May 27, 2022 Council, where it formally declared its independence from the Moscow Patriarchate.
Metropolitan Onuphry also detailed the UOC’s humanitarian contributions since Russia’s 2022 invasion, documenting over 241.5 million UAH ($5.8 million) in aid, including providing 193 vehicles to Ukrainian forces, delivering 1,037 tons of humanitarian supplies to the military, distributing 8,000 tons of aid to civilians, serving 1.5 million hot meals, and sheltering over 50,000 internally displaced persons in monasteries.
Previous statements contradicted
The DESS investigation claims the UOC never officially informed the government of its separation from the ROC. However, in July 2022, then-DESS head Elena Bogdan publicly stated: “In an official letter, Metropolitan Onuphry clearly indicated that the UOC is no longer governed by the decision of the Bishops’ Council of the ROC, and officially announced its disassociation from the Moscow Patriarchate.” Bogdan was subsequently removed from her position.
Next steps
With Metropolitan Onuphry’s refusal to comply with what he termed a “fictitious” order, DESS has now formally recognized the Kiev Metropolia as affiliated with a foreign religious organization banned in Ukraine. This decision represents the first concrete application of Law 8371, signed by President Zelensky in August 2024, which enables the banning of religious organizations deemed connected to Russia.
The investigation procedure approved by Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers on May 9, 2025, allows for individual investigations of dioceses, parishes, monasteries, and other church organizations that exist as separate legal entities. The Kiev Metropolia, as the central administrative body of the UOC, was selected as the first target of these investigations.
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