Yelensky upset over progress of court case to ban UOC's Kyiv Metropolis

Yelensky. Photo: Ukrinform

On October 31, 2025, Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, stated that representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are “delaying” the consideration of the case seeking to liquidate the Kyiv Metropolis. Radio Svoboda reported his comments.

According to Yelensky, the Metropolis’s lawyers “abuse judicial procedures” and behave “aggressively.” He expressed dissatisfaction that the UOC’s defense team actively uses every legal means to protect the rights of the Church and its faithful.

“They say they never received the order, though the Metropolitan of Kyiv acknowledged it in his letter. They are constantly delaying the process, because if the court proceeds to consider the case on its merits, they will have to explain why they refuse to leave an organization that is a direct participant in the war against Ukraine,” Yelensky said.

It should be noted that the defense and representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church act strictly within the law, consistently using all legal mechanisms to defend their rights and freedom of religion.

Metropolis attorney Archpriest Mykyta Chekman reported that the court has already received over a thousand petitions from believers seeking to join the case as third parties, with about three hundred more still being processed. According to him, this number demonstrates the broad support of the UOC among its faithful. Because of the large volume of petitions, the hearing was postponed to December 11.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that on October 30, the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal in Kyiv granted the defense’s motion to obtain all documents on which the State Service based its orders, after which the hearing was postponed to December 11.

Earlier, the UOJ also reported that the hearing on the ban of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC was postponed for a month and a half.

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