Yelensky urges U.S. to impose sanctions on persecutors of religious freedom

Yelensky requests to introduce sanctions. Photo: DESS Facebook

During his speech at the International Religious Freedom Summit (IRF Summit 2025) in Washington, Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), called for the condemnation of systematic violations of religious rights and crimes based on religious grounds, as well as discussions on ways to counter these threats.

Yelensky urged attendees not to remain indifferent to violations of religious freedom and to defend every person’s right to believe in what they deem worthy of faith.

He stated that religiously motivated crimes are common in China, Russia, and Iran.

"Religious freedom is something these regimes particularly despise because religious freedom means freedom from state coercion," said the head of DESS. However, he did not clarify whether he considers Ukraine among the countries where believers' rights are being violated.

Yelensky made a self-critical call for a tougher global response against violators of religious freedom, advocating for stricter sanctions and emphasizing that "people of goodwill and believers from different countries hope that the U.S. will continue its fight for religious freedom and against those who violate it."

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Yevstratiy Zoria assured Americans that the ban on the UOC is actually a protection of religious freedom.

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