How the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Became a Weapon for Moscow and Washington (Ksenia Luchenko, Carnegie Russia Eurasia)

This spring, a new Ukrainian law—“On the protection of the constitutional order in the activities of religious organizations”—comes into force. One of its goals is to limit the influence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which declared its independence from the Moscow Patriarchate back in May 2022, but which the Ukrainian authorities still suspect of collaborating with Russia. Previously, most of the criticism of the standoff between the Ukrainian authorities and the UOC came from Moscow, which cited it as one of its justifications for invading Ukraine. But now the church issue has begun to create international problems for Kyiv from other quarters: namely, the new U.S. administration.

How the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Became a Weapon for Moscow and Washington | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace