Ostapenko: Everyone in UCCRO feels fine except the “FSB UOC”

Maksym Ostapenko. Photo: RBC-Ukraine

Maksym Ostapenko, head of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve, said in an interview with Shelter that all religious organizations feel comfortable in the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches except the “FSB UOC.”

The official commented on relations among the religious organizations represented in the council. “We have different churches, and we have a wonderful organization – the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches – where every church organization feels comfortable except one called the ‘FSB UOC,’” Ostapenko said.

The reserve head stressed the need for more active information efforts. “We need to take a tougher, more proactive stance. And our entire society must finally realize that we are facing a merciless enemy.”

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church effectively stopped being included in UCCRO activities at the end of 2023, when UOC representatives were barred without explanation from attending a Council meeting with the Cabinet of Ministers. OCU head Epifaniy Dumenko later said that at the meeting all Council members voted in favor of banning the UOC.

Despite this, for a long time there was no information that the UOC had been expelled from UCCRO. Only recently did a note appear on the organization’s website, in the section listing UCCRO members, stating that “the membership of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been suspended since June 30, 2026, pursuant to a UCCRO decision.” No official announcement that such a decision had been adopted, however, was ever made.

As the UOJ previously reported, UCCRO called for the continued persecution of the UOC.

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