"Russian Old Believers, pagans, and the liquidated UAOC": The media reported on which religious organizations received the right to defer mobilization

Ukrainian media outlets have examined a list of religious organizations that the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience has designated as “critical,” thereby granting their representatives deferment from mobilization into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is reported that the list includes Old Believer churches, some of which directly indicate their connection with Russia in their names, various “exotic” pagan religious associations, and even representatives of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which was liquidated after the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in 2018. The information was published on the Telegraf website.

It is reported that most of the “critical” religious organizations on the DESS list belong to the OCU. Protestants are in second place. There is also a significant proportion of Roman Catholics and believers of the UGCC. But this is understandable, since there are millions of followers of these denominations in Ukraine.

However, denominations and cults that few people have heard of have also become “critical.”

For example, the religious organizations of the Old Orthodox Church of Ukraine (DOCU) – the so-called Old Believers. There are only about 50 DOCU parishes in Ukraine. Before the full-scale invasion, the DOU was in Eucharistic communion with the Moscow Metropolis, but then severed this connection by publishing a corresponding statement.

The Old Orthodox Pomor Church is another branch of the Old Believers, with less than 40 communities throughout Ukraine.

The number of parishes belonging to the religious brotherhood of “Faithful Hetman Petro Konashevych-Sagaydachny” is not even indicated on the organization’s website. However, it has its own militarized wing called “Voanergess,” legally registered as a private security service.

The so-called Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) has several dozen religious organizations. It is noteworthy that after the creation of the OCU, the UAOC was liquidated, but not everyone in the organization agreed with this scenario, and some communities continue to function.

In addition, pagans from the religious community “Fern Flower” were included in the list of “critical” organizations. According to the Unified State Register, the community is registered in one of the capital’s apartments, and its leader is Vyacheslav Tolpiga. Nothing is known about him, except that two enforcement proceedings have been opened against a person with that name.

Or such an oxymoron as the community of Ukrainian pagans “Orthodoxy” in the Solomyanskyi district of Kyiv. This “church” was founded by writer and ethnologist Galina Lozko. How many followers this organization has, if any, is unknown. But one thing is certain — 73-year-old Lozko definitely does not need a reservation.

To put it mildly, such a “critical” enterprise as the “Religious Community of the Native Ukrainian National Faith ”Svitlo Dazhbozhe» looks peculiar. Judging by the name, it is some kind of neo-pagan cult, led, according to the register, by Vitaly Pekhota, an individual entrepreneur from Vinnytsia. In addition to worshipping the “sun god,” a person with this name is also engaged in retail trade from market stalls.

The DESS list also includes structures that have the word “Russian” in their official name. For example, the religious community of the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church.

Earlier, we reported that the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience published a list of criteria according to which religious figures may be granted a deferral from mobilization. According to this list, clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will not be able to be exempted from mobilization, since the UOC falls under the anti-church law No. 3894.