Yelensky: The destruction of UOC cannot be a violation of religious freedom

Head of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) Yelensky. Photo: Ukrinform

In an interview with Ukrinform, Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, made a number of contradictory statements regarding the implementation of Law No. 3894, which effectively aims to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).

Speaking with the journalist, Yelensky admitted that “international norms indeed stipulate that considerations of national security cannot be grounds for curtailing religious freedom.” At the same time, he did not classify the destruction of the UOC as such a curtailment.

“It’s hard for me to agree that the inability of ROC structures – which are essentially part of the Russian state apparatus – to operate can be considered a restriction of religious freedom,” Yelensky stated.

Elsewhere in the interview, he confidently asserted that the UOC is part of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), and claimed that the new law would not apply to it if it were to separate from the Moscow Patriarchate. However, Yelensky did not clarify on what documents he based his conclusion about the UOC’s alleged subordination to the ROC. At the same time, he maintained that “the issue of a Church’s ecclesiastical structure is not a matter for the state.”

He also noted that “since the granting of the Tomos of autocephaly to the OCU, more than 1,900 communities have transferred to it from the UOC.” He did not mention the fact that the overwhelming majority of these “transfers” have been accompanied by violence and lawlessness, nor did he acknowledge that many UOC communities expelled from their churches continue to hold services in makeshift premises.

Yelensky dismissed claims that the state is effectively destroying the UOC as “tall tales” and reiterated his assertion that Ukraine is a “stronghold of religious freedom.”

As a reminder, Yelensky previously assured the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) that Ukraine maintains a high level of religious freedom.

Read also