Belarusian religious scholar and human rights activist Natalia Vasilevich noted that when discussing the war in Ukraine, the topic of violations of freedom of religion “always arises in one way or another. She wrote about it on her own Telegram channel.

According to Vasilevich, both the replicated videos of forced transfer of churches to the PCU and the UOC’s international campaign for its own defense contribute to this.

“Now the Ukrainian authorities and representatives of the UOCU and other religious organizations have to live in the mode of ‘excuses’ that boil down to four main arguments: 1) the UOC are themselves to blame; 2) it’s all Russian ipso facto and propaganda; 3) we are doing nothing of the sort, just ensuring our own national security during the war; 4) it’s much worse in the Russian-occupied territories”, – the religious scholar wrote.

She added that, instead of ensuring order in the transition of churches from one jurisdiction to another, the Ukrainian government “continues to support confrontation with the UOC.”

“It is clear that the authorities have reached a dead end: the campaign against the UOC has gained too much momentum. But it has driven itself into this deadlock by supporting and stimulating this campaign, and now it cannot turn back the spring and replay everything. According to my estimates, the situation for Ukraine has significantly worsened compared to October-November 2023, while the level of pressure has remained approximately at the same level, the problematic law is being postponed and postponed in general”, – Vasilevich emphasized.

The religious scholar is convinced that “it is time to gather a group of international and Ukrainian experts from among lawyers, religious scholars, sociologists, conflictologists, political scientists, political technologists, etc. and work out ways out of this deadlock of state policy in the sphere of freedom of religion”.

Recall, earlier we reported that on January 26, 2024 in the Ukrainian Parliament once again postponed consideration of the bill № 8371, aimed at banning the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.