The DESS confirmed that the Balta Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church

The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience has completed a large-scale investigation that revealed evidence of an affiliation between the Administration of the Balta Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and a foreign religious organization — the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). According to the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics, the investigation was conducted from September 4 to October 19, 2026.

According to the findings of the investigation, the Administration of the Balt Diocese is an integral part of the UOC’s structure. In turn, this structure is inextricably linked to the Kyiv Metropolis, which, according to the agency’s findings, is subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate. The researchers emphasized that the statutory documents of the Balt Diocese explicitly indicate its inclusion in the organizational hierarchy of the UOC.

One of the key factors confirming the commission’s conclusions was the mandatory participation of the head of the Balt Diocese in the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church’s statutory governing bodies, as stipulated in the documentation of the Russian religious organization. The investigation was initiated in accordance with Ukrainian legislation “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations” and “On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Religious Organizations.” Based on the data obtained, a corresponding order was issued confirming the existence of ties that fall under the law prohibiting the activities of religious centers affiliated with the Russian Federation.

As a reminder, earlier the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (GESS) had 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.