Zelensky called information about the ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church “manipulation”

Volodymyr Zelensky called the information about the ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, spread by American journalist Tucker Carlson, “manipulative.” The head of state asserts that no one in Ukraine is restricted in their right to practice any religion or attend churches of different denominations. At the same time, the politician is convinced that during the war with Russia, there can be no religious organizations in Ukraine associated with the Russian Orthodox Church. He stated this in an interview with Israeli-American evangelical journalist Joel Rosenberg on the American Christian platform TBN.

«More than 70% of people (in Ukraine – Ed.) are believers, and their faith, their aspirations, and their churches have never been restricted by anyone. On the contrary, the state has always supported them, and they are very free. As for the Russian Orthodox Church, first of all, no one was persecuted. All these statements are manipulative. The fact is that Ukrainian law states that no religious organization or any organization can have legal ties with an aggressor country. And that is true. But it is absolutely normal during a war not to have legal ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. And this is not about persecuting or closing any particular church,» — Zelensky said.

Recall that on July 2, 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree terminating the Ukrainian citizenship of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy. The SBU cites the fact that Metropolitan Onufriy received Russian citizenship in 2002 but allegedly did not inform the Ukrainian authorities about it. At the same time, according to the SBU, he “continued to enjoy” the rights of a Ukrainian citizen. Later, the head of state effectively acknowledged that the government’s actions against His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy of Kyiv and All Ukraine are part of a deliberate policy against individuals whom the authorities consider “connected with Russia.”