The DESS accused the Zaporizhzhia Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of failing to comply with requirements to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church

The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) has officially accused the administration of the Zaporizhzhia Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of failing to comply with the requirement to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The relevant information was published on the agency’s official website.

According to the DESS statement, this decision was made on the basis of Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Religious Organizations.” The reason was the diocese’s failure to comply with the directive of state authorities: the diocese’s leadership did not provide a documented decision to withdraw from the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC.

In addition, the agency emphasized that the diocesan administrator failed to meet mandatory requirements: he did not publicly condemn his participation in the governing bodies of the Russian Orthodox Church, did not resign from his positions within them, and did not sever ties with the banned religious organization. At this point, the Zaporizhzhia Diocese has become the fourth religious organization to receive official status as affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church.

As a reminder, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) had previously officially initiated an investigation into the possible affiliation the “Administration of the Boryspil Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church” with the Russian Orthodox Church.