"The UOC Is Not on the List": In the Khmelnytskyi region, more than 300 representatives of religious organizations have been granted exemptions from mobilization

As of early November 2026, 353 representatives of religious organizations in the Khmelnytskyi region had obtained exemptions from military conscription. At the same time, in accordance with a discriminatory state policy, priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were not granted the right to defer military service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to Suspilne Khmelnytskyi, citing data from the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (GESS), this category of citizens was granted the right to a deferment in accordance with government resolutions adopted in late 2024.

The DESS explained that the right to deferment is granted to representatives of religious organizations recognized as critically important for the functioning of the economy and ensuring the livelihoods of the population. Currently, there are 668 such organizations in the Khmelnytskyi region out of a total of 2,008 registered religious associations.

It has also become known that reservation status is a dynamic process. During 2026, the deferment was revoked for nine clergy members: eight of them lost their deferment due to dismissal from their positions or transfer, and one due to becoming disabled. The agency emphasized that clergy members without valid deferments are subject to mobilization on the same terms as others, in accordance with current Ukrainian legislation.

As a reminder, Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), previously stated officially that his agency does not grant exemptions from mobilization to clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The official emphasized that all such requests from representatives of the UOC had been rejected.