DESS to UOC: You are misled that the state wants to take your churches
Viktor Yelensky. Photo: DESS
On June 15, 2026, following the shelling of the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) published an appeal to the “hierarchy, clergy, monks, and laity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” urging them to “leave the Moscow Patriarchate, which has long justified evil, the killing of children, and blasphemy.”
“Brothers and sisters, Ukrainians faithful to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church! You are being crudely and continuously deceived by claims that the Ukrainian state wants to confiscate your churches and property,” the agency headed by Yelensky stated.
The authors of the appeal also insisted that “it is false to claim that the state demands that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church become part of another Church.”
The statement did not explain, however, how these assurances correspond with actions by the authorities to remove UOC monks, clergy, and communities from their historic churches, or with allegations that state bodies have assisted the OCU in taking control of church buildings.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that DESS intends to file lawsuits against every eparchy of the UOC.
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