UOC lawyer Robert Amsterdam said in an interview with Tucker Carlson about the torture of clergy in Ukraine

The international lawyer of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Robert Amsterdam, in an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson, has accused the Ukrainian authorities of brutal persecution of believers, which, according to him, has reached the level of torture. The human rights activist elaborated on the case of Metropolitan Arseniy, and also reminded that many parishioners of the UOC defend the country in the ranks of the AFU.

According to the source, Robert Amsterdam believes that the term «persecution» no longer reflects the totality of what is happening. «This is a level of cruelty and torture that cannot be conveyed,» he said, noting that thanks to Tucker Carlson’s interview, the truth about the persecution of Ukrainian Christians is becoming known to a wide audience in the United States.

The lawyer paid special attention to the case of Metropolitan Arseniy. According to Amsterdam, the clergyman, who devoted his life to the Church, has been in the pre-trial detention center for 17 months and is seriously ill. «After 17 months, they agree to release a sufferer who is 60, possibly to die. They let him out for a moment, and the secret police arrest him again on trumped up charges,» the human rights activist recounted.

In conclusion, Robert Amsterdam emphasized that many UOC believers serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and defend their country at the front. He mentioned the existence of appeals from servicemen in defense of their Church, which, in his opinion, is an important argument in the current situation.

We will remind, on November 3, 2025, the Cathedral Court of Dnipro extended the detention of the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Metropolitan of Sviatogorsk Arseniy for another 60 days. The ruling was issued late in the evening after the bishop suffered a hypertensive crisis during the session and required emergency medical assistance.