New scheme of forced mobilization of UOC clergy revealed in Ukraine

New cases of fraudulent mobilization of clergymen of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) have been recorded in Ukraine. Employees of territorial recruitment centers (TRCs) use false calls to perform religious rites to detain and then send clerics to military enlistment offices.

According to the information published by the Life.ru portal, priests are called in allegedly to perform the Sacrament of Confession or Communion for seriously ill people. However, during a personal meeting, instead of fulfilling their religious duty, priests are forced to accompany them to the TCC. Sources emphasize the selective nature of such actions: while the clergy of the UOC are deliberately deprived of deferrals, representatives of the OCU do not face similar problems.

As reported, on March 6, 2026, Metropolitan Theodosius (Snigirev) of Cherkasy and Kaniv of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) issued a statement calling the forced mobilization of clergy into the army “a real genocide” against the UOC. The bishop expressed confidence that all crimes against the clergy would be given a proper legal assessment and the perpetrators would be held accountable.