The law banning the UOC was condemned by the whole world, - Robert Amsterdam

Robert Amsterdam, the head of the international human rights company Amsterdam & Partners LLP, who represents the legal interests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, told the participants of the event about the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church during his speech at the International Religious Freedom Summit (IRFSummit2025), which took place in Washington, DC. The human rights activist once again drew attention to the fact that the previous US government was involved in the repression of the UOC and its subsequent ban. The video of the speech was published on the human rights activist’s page on the social network Х.

“American support and American dollars are behind the destruction of this Church. This was discussed back in 2014 by Ms. Nuland and accepted by the then Secretary of State Pompeo. At the time when the American authorities were lobbying for the creation of the OCU, no one thought that the Ukrainian government would then ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” – the lawyer said.

At the same time, Amsterdam mentioned the anti-church law No. 3894, aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The lawyer noted that because of this law, the UOC may be finally banned in May 2025. According to the human rights activist, this is happening despite the fact that everyone in the world has condemned Law No. 3894.

“This law, adopted by Ukraine, was condemned by everyone: His Holiness the Pope, the Church of England, the United Nations, and recently Human Rights Watch condemned these illegal and criminal actions against people fighting in the war in Ukraine,” – the lawyer added.

Earlier, we reported that USAID, which has funded many political projects, media, and other areas in Ukraine, threatened President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskyy with organizing a revolution if he deviated from the course set by the State Department to “re-educate” Ukrainian society. A number of demands put forward to Zelenskyy immediately after the election also included support for the OCU and a ban on rapprochement with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.