Cherkasy Diocese of the UOC challenges SSEFC order on clergy conscription deferment in court

On July 3, 2025, the Cherkasy Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church filed an administrative lawsuit with the Kyiv District Administrative Court, seeking to declare invalid and unlawful the order of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (SSEFC) dated February 5, 2025, No. H-21/11, titled “Certain Issues of Reserving Clergy from Military Service During Mobilization and Martial Law.” This was reported by the diocesan Telegram channel “Cherkasy Blahovistnyk.”

Diocesan lawyers argue that certain provisions of this document — specifically clauses 3) and 5) of the “Criteria for Recognizing a Religious Organization as Critically Important for the Functioning of the Economy and Ensuring Public Life in Special Periods” — fail to grant clergy of the UOC equal opportunities compared to other religious denominations. According to the plaintiff, this constitutes religious discrimination.

The lawsuit refers to Article 2 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Principles of Preventing and Combating Discrimination in Ukraine,” which guarantees equality of rights, freedoms, and opportunities for all individuals regardless of group affiliation.

The Cherkasy Diocese also points to violations by SSEFC of provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine, specifically Article 6, as well as international obligations — namely Articles 9 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantee freedom of religion and prohibit discrimination.

Based on these arguments, the diocese is asking the court to repeal clauses 3) and 5) of the contested regulation as unlawful and discriminatory, and to compel the state to ensure that clergy of the Cherkasy Diocese of the UOC can exercise their constitutional right to be exempted from mobilization.

It is also worth noting that the Ukrainian website “ARGUMENT” launched a harsh attack on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for attempting to defend its rights through legal channels. In the headline of one of its publications on religious issues, the Church was insultingly labeled “stinking Moscow priests” who sue “to stop the ban on the Russian church in Ukraine.”