The state may deport Metropolitan Onufriy, but it is unlikely to take such a step, - religious scholar

Ukrainian religious scholar and expert at the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) Andriy Smirnov believes that the state will not deport the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church due to his loss of Ukrainian citizenship. According to Smirnov, personal sanctions will most likely be imposed on His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry, which, however, will not affect his position in any way. He spoke about this in an interview with the publication Glavred.

“According to current legislation, he has only three months to regularize his stay in Ukraine. Without Ukrainian citizenship, he must obtain a residence and work permit. Previously, the state was not particularly interested in the grounds on which bishops of the UOC deprived of citizenship were staying in Ukraine. For example, Metropolitan Meletiy of Chernivtsi and Bukovina, who heads the UOC’s Department for External Church Relations, lost his Ukrainian citizenship back in January 2023. Many other bishops have been stripped of their Ukrainian citizenship, but law enforcement agencies have not touched them so far. If there is political will, the state can deport Metropolitan Onufry for violating migration laws and having no grounds for legal residence in Ukraine, since he is a citizen of Russia,” – Smirnov said.

The official added that the state would not dare to deport Metropolitan Onufry. However, he suggested that sanctions could be imposed on the Primate of the UOC. At the same time, according to Smirnov, such pressure on the Metropolitan of Kyiv is unlikely to influence the position of the Primate of the UOC and change his attitude toward state-church relations.

“I doubt (the deportation of the Primate of the UOC, ed.). Rather, sanctions may be imposed on Metropolitan Onufry as an additional lever of pressure on him. But the problem is that he is not susceptible to pressure and will not comply with the DESS’s orders or make concessions to the state. The main strategy of the UOC is to fight in court. They are already challenging some documents of the DESS and the Cabinet of Ministers, in particular the procedure for conducting research on signs of affiliation and religious studies expertise. They will also challenge the order itself. That is, we are facing a long legal battle,” – said the DESS expert.

Earlier, lawyer Danylo Tryasov from Leshchenko & Partners also suggested that the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy, could be subject to sanctions by the authorities after being stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship. Such a scenario is considered legally possible, given the established practice of first depriving a person of citizenship and then imposing restrictive measures against them.