The Kyiv District Administrative Court has accepted the UOC's lawsuit against the DESS

The Kyiv District Administrative Court has opened proceedings on a lawsuit filed by the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), challenging the legality of the establishment of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS). The plaintiffs intend to prove that the government decrees on the basis of which the agency was formed violate the requirements of current legislation.

The UOC’s attorney, Archpriest Nikita Chekman, stated that church representatives consider the transfer of functions related to shaping state policy in the religious sphere from ministries to the DESS to be unlawful. According to the lawyers, this decision by the Cabinet of Ministers exceeds the powers established by law.

According to the case file, the first preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 27, 2026. The situation is complicated by a parallel legal proceeding: as early as July 22, 2026, the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeals will begin hearing the DESS’s lawsuit against the Kyiv Metropolis. As part of this proceeding, the State Service is demanding that the religious organization cease its activities and transfer its property to the state. Representatives of the UOC emphasize that they continue to defend their rights within the legal framework and call on the faithful to offer their support through prayer.

As a reminder, Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), Viktor Yelensky , acknowledged that there is a risk the state could lose in international courts if the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) appeals to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).