Religious scholar suggests dismantling UOC churches and transporting them to Russia

Religious scholar, OCU lobbyist, and expert of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) Lyudmila Filipovich made a resonant proposal to dismantle the churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) and transport them to the territory of the Russian Federation. On Channel 5, she also made harsh statements against the UOC believers, suggesting that they should be “brainwashed.”

Professor Filipovich expressed confidence that the UOC has no place in Ukraine. “If you are a Russian church, then you have no place in Ukraine. You have a huge absolute territory – the Russian Federation. There are so many opportunities to build these churches there. We could even help move them, for example, disassemble them and move them there,” she said.

Commenting on the recent demolition of the Tithe Church in Kyiv, Filipovich fully supported the actions of the authorities, calling the building “a mafia that was built without any permits at all.” She noted that after its liquidation, “the world did not end,” and regretted that the state lacks the resources to inspect all such facilities and “restore order.”

Particular attention was drawn to the expert’s statements about the parishioners of the UOC. In her opinion, it is necessary “to somehow clear the brains of those people who once wrote ‘Ukrainians’ in their passports, but still live in the idea of a single state, where Moscow is the capital of our homeland.” She characterized such a worldview as a “clinic” and a “disease,” calling for “helping these people to recover spiritually.”

As a spiritual reference point, Lyudmila Filipovich cited the OCU, where, according to her, “absolutely normal religious Orthodox life is taking place .”

We will remind, recently Lyudmila Filipovich made a proposal to use Soviet mechanisms of influence on public consciousness to popularize the OCU. This statement was made on October 28, 2025, on Channel 5 during a discussion of the religious situation in the country.