It is also worth noting that the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (SSEFС) published a list of legal entities — religious organizations that are considered critically important for the functioning of the economy and ensuring the livelihood of the population during the special period. These are institutions whose leaders and employees will be exempt from mobilization into the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the martial law period. Notably, the list completely excludes the religious communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which automatically threatens the forced mobilization of UOC clergy who do not have official grounds for a deferral from military service.
The TRC subjected a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, who was walking in a procession to the Pochaiv Lavra, to forced mobilization
On August 25, 2025, employees of the Ternopil Regional Administration of the Territorial Center for the Recruitment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine forcibly mobilized Archpriest Bogdan Matviyev, a cleric of the Kremenchug Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The clergyman participated in the Cross Procession of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from Kamianets-Podilskyi to the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra. This was reported by Dialog.tut.
It is reported that Archpriest Bogdan Matviyev has a legal right to defer military service because he is a father of five children. In addition, the clergyman’s eldest son is already fighting on the front lines. However, the priest was detained in the Ternopil region and, according to the latest information, he is already at one of the training grounds in the Rivne region.
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