"Again without the UOC": DESS updated the list of critically important religious organizations of Ukraine

The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) has amended the list of religious organizations recognized as critical for the functioning of the economy and ensuring the life of the population during a special period. The updated list opens up opportunities for the organizations included in it “to work steadily under martial law”. At the same time, no religious community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has predictably joined the list.

According to the official website of the ministry, the list included those legal entities that were checked for compliance with special criteria. These criteria were approved by the DESS order of February 5, 2025 (No. N-21/11), registered with the Ministry of Justice on February 19 and officially entered into force on March 20, 2025.

This update was carried out in compliance with the order of the Prime Minister of Ukraine dated June 19, 2025. This decision was preceded by a meeting of the head of the government with members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, which took place on June 16, where, presumably, they discussed topical issues of activity of religious communities in the country.

We shall remind you that earlier we reported that the State Service of Ukraine for Ethno-Politics and Freedom of Conscience published a list of criteria according to which religious figures can be granted deferment from mobilization. According to the said list, clergymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will not be able to be reserved from mobilization, as the UOC falls under the anti-church law No. 3894.