Viktor Yelensky confirmed the refusal of the DESS to reservate UOC clergy from mobilization

The head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), Viktor Yelenskyy, has officially said that his agency does not provide reservations from mobilization for the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). According to the Ukrinform news and analysis website, the official emphasized that all such requests from representatives of the UOC had been rejected.

During the press conference, Yelenskyy commented on the situation with the church hierarchs, noting that “we do not book such people”. According to him, the department is aware of cases when clergymen tried to get a deferment, registering as employees of non-church sphere. At the same time, the head of the DESS recognized the existence of a serious canonical contradiction: according to church rules, a clergyman may not take up arms, and if he commits even an unintentional murder, he must be expelled from the dignity.

Despite internal church bans and international pressure, the position of the Ukrainian authorities remains unchanged. Yelensky mentioned that Ukraine had received official comments from foreign religious institutions, including the US bishops’ conference, which pointed out the inadmissibility of mobilizing priests. Earlier, US Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna also spoke about the illegality of conscripting representatives of the UOC clergy into the armed forces, but these appeals did not affect the current state policy.