Russian Foreign Ministry: Ending persecution of the UOC is a key condition for resolving the Ukrainian crisis

Moscow considers ending the persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) as one of the key conditions for achieving a sustainable settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. This was stated by the Russian Foreign Ministry, which stressed that in addition to this, it was necessary to repeal the law on restricting the activities of religious organizations and stop violations of the rights of the Russian population.

According to Sputnik Serbia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that «the need to suspend the persecution of the UOC, including the repeal of the law ‘On Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Activities of Religious Organizations’ adopted in August 2024, which provides for the creation of a legal mechanism for banning the canonical church, as well as the cessation of violations of the rights of the Russian population, is one of the key conditions for achieving a sustainable solution to the Ukrainian crisis».

As a reminder, we recently published an analytical piece on what the post-war future of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church might look like. The author of the publication pointed out that Russia, during the peace talks, would unambiguously demand that pressure on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church be eased, which, in turn, would leave the UOC under the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church.