U.S. politicians express support for UOC believers amid allegations of religious freedom violations

The leader of the youth wing of the US Republican Party, Katherine Whiteford, expressed gratitude to Congresswoman Anna Pauline Luna and US Vice President J.D. Vance for their public support of the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). Whiteford emphasized her concern about the situation around the UOC churches in the villages of Pryiutivka and Kuzmin, where, in her opinion, basic human rights are being violated under the pretext of belonging to the «wrong» church.

In her statement published on the social network X (formerly Twitter) on January 30, 2026, Catherine Whiteford commented on the situation, saying that the parishioners of the Church of St. George in Pryiutivka and the Church of the Nativity in Kuzmin did not commit any crimes, except for «being in the ‘wrong’ church in the eyes of the government.» The politician expressed gratitude for the position on the protection of religious freedom, emphasizing: «I am very grateful to the leadership of… U.S. Congresswoman Anna Pauline Luna and Vice President J.D. Vance on this issue. This is not politics, this is basic human rights.»

In addition, Katherine Whiteford published a video of Vice President J.D. Vance’s speech made in April 2024, in which he raised the issue of persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Vance then noted that the authorities are planning to pass a law that could lead to the closure of many UOC communities. He stated: «You’re arranging a radical restriction of a religious community with its religious freedom because a few of its members disagree with you about the current conflict.» The US Vice President emphasized that the destruction of the Christian community in Ukraine would be a «disgrace» for the United States and its allies.

As reported earlier, U.S. Congresswoman Anna Pauline Luna intends to demand explanations from Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States Olga Stefanishyna regarding the raider seizure of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Kuzmin, Chernivtsi region, by supporters of the OCU.