The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine reappointed Viktor Yelensky as head of DESS

The Ukrainian government has decided to extend the powers of Viktor Yelenskyy as head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS). According to the official decree, he will continue to head the agency for the next year.

According to Interfax Ukraine with reference to the decree No. 254 of March 20, Viktor Yelensky is reappointed to the post from March 27, 2026. The document states that his term of office will be no more than 12 months from the date of termination or abolition of martial law, but in any case cannot exceed the date of March 26, 2027.

Recall that in December 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers referred the State Service for Ethno-politics and Freedom of Conscience to the number of central executive bodies subordinate directly to the government. In the same period, Elena Bohdan was dismissed from the post of the head of the agency, after which the structure was headed by Mr. Yelenskyy.

Earlier we reported that the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience accused the Kyiv Metropolitanate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of dragging out the trial. This is a case concerning the order of the DESS to withdraw the Metropolis from the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).