UN says Ukraine violates freedom of religion

The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has released a report “Four years since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine: key facts and conclusions”, which documented numerous circumstances related to the violation of religious freedom on the territory controlled by the country’s government. This is reported by the Information and Education Department of the UOC with reference to the web page of the mission.

The UN document particularly notes the situation with the conviction to imprisonment of “representatives of Christian denominations who tried to exercise their right to conscientious objection to military service”. The Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld these sentences. The report emphasizes that “international law does not allow any restrictions or derogations from the right to conscientious objection to military service.”

Human rights activists also drew attention to the changes in the legislation on religious organizations adopted under the pretext of national security. UN experts state that national security “is not a permissible ground for restricting freedom of religion under international human rights law”.

As a consequence of these legislative changes, the Ukrainian authorities filed a lawsuit to stop the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) from operating, arguing that it has a “prohibited connection with the Russian Orthodox Church.” This case is currently pending in court.

In addition, the report refers to cases in which “groups of individuals used force to enter the churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.” The participants in these actions referred to “decisions of local authorities to register new religious communities of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine at the same addresses”.

Earlier, the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch expressed serious concern over the potential restriction of the rights of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to access places of worship in Ukraine. The warning is contained in the organization’s report on the human rights situation in Ukraine for 2025, which notes possible consequences of the application of new anti-church legislation.