Archbishop Sylvester: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church Does Not Need Russia's Protection

Archbishop Silvestr of Belogorod, rector of the Kyiv Theological Schools, issued an official statement emphasizing that “The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) does not need Russia’s mediation to resolve its internal problems.” This statement was a response to a report published by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in which the Russian side attempts to assume the role of “defender” of Orthodoxy in Ukraine.

In his post at , the UOC hierarch emphasized that the Church has never turned to Russian government agencies for help. Archbishop Sylvester stressed that any issues arising in relations between the Church and the state are an internal matter for Ukraine, which must be resolved exclusively within the legal framework, and not through the intervention of Russia, “which pursues its own imperial interests.”

The statement paid particular attention to the fact that the Russian report “completely ignores the devastating consequences of the Russian Federation’s military actions on church infrastructure.” According to the hierarch, since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war in February 2022, more than 400 churches and monasteries of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) have been damaged or completely destroyed, accounting for more than half of the total number of religious sites affected in the country. There are also reports of the deaths of more than two dozen clergy members, as well as “numerous cases of repression against the clergy in the temporarily occupied territories.”

In conclusion, Archbishop Silvestr noted that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church remains loyal to Ukraine and intends to defend its rights through democratic mechanisms and international human rights institutions. “We do not need mediation from a state with which Ukraine is at war,” the archbishop emphasized, calling for an open dialogue within Ukrainian society to resolve existing issues regarding freedom of conscience.

As a reminder, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov previously announced the submission to the UN, the OSCE, and the Vatican a special report prepared by the Russian Foreign Ministry, which details violations of the rights of believers and the illegal actions of the Ukrainian authorities against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This is already the third such document sent to international organizations to draw attention to the persecution of clergy and parishioners.