A law firm representing the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) has said the murder of a monk cannot be separated from what it describes as a wider campaign of persecution against the Church.
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the largely self-governing UOC remained canonically part of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). That year the UOC declared its independence from the ROC in response to the latter’s support for the war.
The Ukrainian government has continued to question the UOC’s independence from Moscow. Some members of its clergy have been arrested, while legislation allowing courts to dissolve religious organisations found to be affiliated with the ROC has raised concerns about the UOC’s future.
On 23 August, monk Varsanofy Turyansky was killed in an attack at the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk monastery in the Donetsk region. Monk Hryhoriy and Andriy Kyriienko, a refugee living at the monastery, were wounded. The assailants have not been identified and the circumstances surrounding the attack remain under investigation.
Amsterdam & Partners LLP said that the killing took place on the same day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hosted a National Prayer Breakfast, from which the firm said the UOC had been excluded.
It accused the state of failing to protect the Church.
“While the Ukrainian government publicly claims to celebrate religious freedom before an international audience, the UOC has been subjected to an escalating campaign of violence," it said.
It called for a full investigation into the murder so that those responsible could be held accountable.
