Ukraine may restrict access to churches for UOC believers, Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch. Photo: stockholmcf

The Ukrainian government may significantly restrict the rights of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, including access to places of worship. This is stated in a report by the US advocacy organization Human Rights Watch on the human rights situation in Ukraine for 2025, published in the section devoted to the rule of law.

The document notes that in August, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience applied the 2024 law on religious organizations, recognizing the UOC as a structure affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, whose activities are banned in the country. After this, the State Service filed a lawsuit to liquidate the Kyiv Metropolia of the UOC.

According to human rights defenders, such actions may entail serious consequences for the religious community. In particular, this concerns possible restrictions on the Church's property rights, as well as access of clergy and laypeople to churches and other places of worship, which affects fundamental rights to freedom of religion.

"This could lead to restrictions on property rights and access to places of worship of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church", the Human Rights Watch report states.

As the UOJ wrote, earlier Human Rights Watch criticized the anti-church law 3894. "The new law raises concerns about freedom of religion, and security concerns are not a green light for violating rights," the report stated.

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