Vinnytsia Regional Official Explains How UOC Parishes Will Be Checked for Affiliation with the ROC

In Vinnytsia region, authorities are preparing to inspect religious communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) for affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). This process is in line with the Law “On the Protection of Constitutional Order,” which mandates the severance of all ties with the ROC by May 2025. According to Ihor Saletskyi, head of the Department for Religious and Ethnic Affairs of the Vinnytsia Regional Military Administration, approximately 500 registered and 250 unregistered UOC communities are under scrutiny. This was reported by the news agency “20 Khvylyn – Vinnytsia News.”

“After the nine-month deadline, the inspections will be carried out by the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (SSEFC). If ROC ties are confirmed, the community will have one month to sever them; otherwise, the case will be taken to court,” Saletskyi explained.

The inspections will follow a step-by-step approach: from the Kyiv Metropolis down to individual parishes. Key indicators of affiliation with the ROC will include participation in synods, adherence to Moscow Patriarchate decisions, and statutory references.

“Metropolitan Onuphriy is still a member of the ROC Synod, and some communities clearly state their subordination to the Moscow Patriarchate in their charters,” the official added.

If affiliation is confirmed, the community may be liquidated by court order. A special commission will record the community’s assets, which may then be transferred to the state or another religious organization.

Earlier, it was also reported that on April 24, 2025, a statement was made to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination regarding the establishment of the OCU in 2018, which, according to experts, intensified tensions with the UOC. The UOC officially severed ties with the ROC in May 2022. Committee expert Chinsun Chung expressed concern over possible violations of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion in Ukraine, in light of the law that effectively bans UOC activities.