Yelensky tells Scandinavian chucrh leaders about efforts to protect faith
The head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience criticized the Russian Orthodox Church.
On October 2, 2025, the head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) Viktor Yelensky held a meeting with the heads and bishops of the Nordic countries' denominations, where he assured that freedom of faith is observed in Ukraine.
The DESS press service clarified that Yelensky "provided a detailed account of the state-church relations in Ukraine, the state's efforts to protect the right to freedom of conscience, and focused on its suppression in temporarily occupied territories".
He "reported on systematic oppression of believers and entire religious associations, destroyed religious buildings, and church closures". Whether Yelensky spoke about similar phenomena in Ukraine was not specified in the message.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that cases were opened against Yelensky for inciting interreligious hatred.
