Russian Orthodox Church

Ukraine charges Russian clerics with aiding church seizures in occupied territories

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has officially notified four Russian metropolitans in absentia of being suspected of facilitating the seizure of churches in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The SBU announced this on Monday, Dec. 9.

9 December 2024, 04:57 PM

Lviv Oblast becomes first in Ukraine to eliminate Russian Orthodox Church communities

Lviv Oblast has become the first in Ukraine to be free of any registered religious communities of the Russian Orthodox Church, Lviv Regional Military Administration head Maksym Kozytskyi announced on Nov. 29.

29 November 2024, 05:00 PM

PACE urges sanctions on Russian propagandists and state media

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has called for sanctions against Russian propagandists and state media, as well as recognizing the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) as a tool of Russian influence and propaganda. This was announced on Tuesday, Oct. 1, by Yevhenia Kravchuk, deputy head of the Humanitarian and Information Policy Committee and a member of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE.

1 October 2024, 04:01 PM

Ukraine's Zelenskyy urges dialogue with Vatican amid church law dispute

Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to Pope Francis's criticism of the Ukrainian law regulating the activities of religious organizations connected to Russia at a press conference on Aug. 27, following discussions at the Ukraine 2024: Independence Forum.

27 August 2024, 08:00 PM

Volodymyr Zelenskyy signs law banning Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) on Aug. 24, according to the Verkhovna Rada website.

24 August 2024, 11:52 AM

Serbian patriarch criticizes Ukraine’s ROC ban

Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Porfirije has expressed support for the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) after the Ukrainian parliament passed a bill banning ROC in Ukraine, the Serbian Orthodox Church announced on Aug. 23.

24 August 2024, 12:28 AM

Senior ROC priest hospitalized after court hearing

Metropolitan Pavel, a former Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) head of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, is being treated at a Kyiv hospital after his condition deteriorated during a court hearing on Aug. 21, according to Pavel’s lawyer, Mykyta Chekman.

22 August 2024, 11:55 PM

Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate abbot sells gold to Russia

A cleric from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP) in Russian-occupied Luhansk is suspected of supplying gold products to Russia, the SBU reported on Aug. 22.

22 August 2024, 05:29 PM

Zelenskyy discusses ROC ban with Archbishop of Constantinople

After the Ukrainian parliament passed a ban on the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a phone conversation with the Archbishop of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

21 August 2024, 09:41 PM

Orthodox Church of Ukraine leader invites UOC MP members to leave Moscow’s control

Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), expressed his willingness to engage in dialogue with Metropolitan Onufriy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP) and encouraged followers of the UOC MP to join the OCU.

21 August 2024, 06:27 PM

Ukrainian parliament to consider UOC-MP ban, says Ruslan Stefanchuk

In the coming days, the Verkhovna Rada will consider a draft law to ban the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said in an interview with We Ukraine TV channel on Aug. 17.

18 August 2024, 11:18 AM

Ukrainian Council supports ban on religious groups tied to Russian Orthodox Church

The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations backed a legislative push to ban religious groups linked to the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, according to a statement on their website on Aug. 17.

17 August 2024, 07:36 PM

Zelenskyy supports legislation banning Russian Orthodox Church

The bill that would effectively ban the operation of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in Ukraine — currently under consideration by the Ukrainian parliament — would “guarantee” that Moscow cannot manipulate the Ukrainian church, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Aug. 16.

16 August 2024, 10:36 PM

SBU arrests priest, accomplice for plotting attack on Ukrainian military

Ukraine’s SBU Security Service has detained two agents of the Russian GRU military intelligence, including a priest of the Moscow Patriarchate, who were preparing to attack Ukrainian Armed Forces' echelons.

1 August 2024, 01:25 PM

SBU brings more charges against Cherkasy ROC priest

The head of the Cherkasy Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), previously charged with inciting religious hatred, has been accused of anti-Ukrainian activities, Ukraine’s SBU security service announced on June 19.

19 June 2024, 09:15 PM

ROC still sells pro-Russian literature to churchgoers, SBU finds

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) sells religious literature which attempts to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine’s SBU security service reported on June 4.

4 June 2024, 09:31 PM

PACE recognizes Russian leader Putin as ‘illegitimate’

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has officially declared Russian dictator Vladimir Putin illegitimate and called on Council of Europe and European Union member states to cease any contact with his "criminal regime," Ukrainian MP and PACE delegate Oleksiy Honcharenko reported via Telegram on April 17.

17 April 2024, 11:17 PM

SBU charges another ROC priest with advancing Russian influence in Ukraine

Ukraine’s SBU security service has charged a high-ranking Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) priest in Ukraine with justifying Russia’s war against Ukraine and inciting religious hatred, SBU announced via Telegram on April 12.

12 April 2024, 09:30 PM

Why did Patriarch Kirill declare ‘holy war’ against the West – opinion

After the World Russian People’s Council meeting on March 27, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) declared that Russia’s war against Ukraine is “holy” and the “special military operation” is “protecting the world from the West, which has fallen to Satanism”

2 April 2024, 10:45 PM

SBU dismantles FSB-run clerical spy ring

Ukraine’s SBU security service has uncovered a criminal organization in Kyiv that spread pro-Kremlin narratives and incited religious hatred on the orders from Russia’s FSB, SBU’s press service reported via Telegram on March 12.

12 March 2024, 09:05 PM

Russian Orthodox Church

1
2