Yelensky informs UCCRO about clergy exemptions
Viktor Yelensky. Photo: DESS website
On March 18, 2025, Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), held a working meeting with members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO), reports the DESS website.
According to the report, “the key topic of discussion was the implementation of Government Resolution No. 76 of January 27, 2023, regarding the exemption of conscripted individuals, particularly clergy, in the context of mobilization.”
It is emphasized that the head of DESS “provided clarifications on this issue,” though the specifics of his explanations were not disclosed.
Additionally, Yelensky discussed border-crossing regulations for clergy with UCCRO members, as well as “the implementation of believers’ right to freedom of religion in accordance with Part Four of Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine.” However, the details of what this entailed were not revealed in the report.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that Yelensky was reappointed as the head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics.
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