Kyiv Council urges authorities to foster transfer of UOC parishes to OCU
The Kyiv Regional Council has effectively instructed local authorities to administratively assist the transfer of UOC parishes in the Kyiv region to the OCU.
The council adopted a resolution titled “On the Implementation of Ukrainian Legislation on the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Religious Organizations’ Activities in the Kyiv Region.”
Under the document, district military administrations and local self-government bodies are recommended to facilitate parish meetings on changing ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ensure that citizens are informed about the procedure for such changes, and carry out ongoing monitoring of the use of communal property by religious organizations – “including preventing its use by structures whose activities are prohibited.”
The initiator of the resolution, regional council deputy Roman Titykalo, stated that from 2019 to 2025, 307 religious communities had transferred from the UOC to the OCU. At the same time, he said, more than 300 UOC communities continue to operate in the region.
He cited as grounds for the decision the law “On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Religious Organizations’ Activities” and a ruling by the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics dated August 27, 2025, which recognized the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC as affiliated with a foreign religious organization whose activities are banned in Ukraine.
It should be noted that for the State Service’s decision to liquidate the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC to take effect, a court ruling is required. Until such a ruling is issued, the decision has no legal force. Court hearings on the State Service’s lawsuit against the Metropolis are still ongoing. Accordingly, critics argue that the Kyiv Regional Council had no legal grounds to adopt its resolution on implementing the legislation in question.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that the court hearing on the potential ban of the Kyiv Metropolis had been postponed indefinitely.
