On 1 July 2025, the Security Service of Ukraine announced that Metropolitan Onufry of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) (in the world – Orest Berezovsky) was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship. It was done by the order of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The reason for this, as reported by the SBU, is concealing Russian citizenship and suspicion of loyalty to the Moscow Patriarchate, which has officially been promoting Russia’s military actions against Ukraine.
It was informed by the special service that Berezovsky had obtained Russian citizenship as early as 2002 but did not report it to the Ukrainian authorities. Indeed, he kept all the rights of a Ukrainian citizen nonetheless. Moreover, as the SBU has reported, the metropolitan maintained close links with the Russian Orthodox Church leadership and personally with Patriarch Kirill, who openly supports the Russian aggression. SBU in a statement added that Onuphriy ‘purposefully countered the acquisition of canonical autonomy for the Ukrainian church’.
Remember that in May 2022, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church officially announced its full independence from the Moscow Patriarchate. This was a response to the position of support on the part of the Russian Orthodox Church of the war against Ukraine. Nevertheless, the actual breakup never occurred: liturgical, administrative and canonical connections were maintained, which raised a storm of criticism from the Ukrainian society and authorities.
In reaction to the accusations of possible pro-Russian activity in the church, Ukrainian law enforcement officials strengthened control of the UOC. Since 2022, the SBU conducted numerous searches in temples and monasteries, and some clergy were targeted by criminal cases. Furthermore, in August 2024, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a law banning religious organisations subordinate to the aggressor state. This law mainly restricted the activities of the UOC.
The UOC itself has not yet commented on this decision.
