Ukraine plans to officially establish Military Chaplain Day

The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations has proposed designating October 12 as a national holiday—Military Chaplain Day. The proposal has already been submitted to the Office of the President of Ukraine for consideration.

Andriy Kovalev, an officer in the Media Relations Division of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s Public Relations Department, spoke about the initiative. According to him, there is hope that the president’s decree officially recognizing the holiday could be signed as early as this year. Colonel Oleksandr Vovkotecha, head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s Military Chaplaincy Service, added that the draft has passed all necessary approval stages, including those involving ministries and the Cabinet of Ministers.

As a reminder, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience previously published a list of criteria under which religious leaders may be granted a deferment from mobilization. According to this list, clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will not be eligible for deferment from mobilization, as the UOC falls under the scope of anti-church Law No. 3894.