The Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will appeal the Kyiv Regional Council’s decision to “facilitate the transition” of Ukrainian Orthodox Church parishes to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine

The Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Kyiv Regional Council’s decision of February 26, 2026, regarding compliance with legislation governing the activities of religious organizations within the region. The UOC believes that the document exceeds the authority of local government bodies and places additional pressure on religious communities and believers.

According to attorney Mykyta Chekman, a team of lawyers acting on behalf of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC has filed a lawsuit demanding that the Kyiv Regional Council’s decision be declared unlawful and overturned. The document in question is titled “On the Implementation of Ukrainian Legislation on the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Activities of Religious Organizations in the Kyiv Region.”

According to the plaintiff, this resolution effectively calls on local government bodies to facilitate the conversion of UOC communities to other denominations, as well as to exercise control over the property of religious communities. The Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC regards such actions as interference in a sphere that does not fall within the jurisdiction of local councils.

The statement also notes that the regional council’s decision was based on a ruling by the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience regarding the alleged affiliation of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC with the Russian Orthodox Church. At the same time, as the defense emphasizes, the legality of this decision is currently being challenged in court and has not been definitively established.

Representatives of the UOC cite the constitutional principle of the separation of church and state and emphasize that issues of the canonical affiliation of religious communities should be decided exclusively by the members of those communities themselves, rather than by state authorities or local government bodies.

The Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC is asking the court to declare the Kyiv Regional Council’s decision unlawful and to overturn it. The statement also includes a request for prayerful support for a fair judicial review.