About 60% of Ukrainians consider it acceptable to terminate the activities of certain religious organizations. Of these, more than 80% supported banning the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
This is stated in the results of a survey conducted by the sociological service of the Razumkov Centre with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Representation in Ukraine in November 2025.
According to the study, 58.7% of respondents believe it is acceptable for state authorities to ban the activities of certain churches or religious associations. Among these respondents, 82.6% supported a ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Some 52% of surveyed Ukrainians believe that the church should be nationally oriented.
The overwhelming majority of respondents support the provisions of the law “On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of the Activities of Religious Organizations,” which prohibits the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
Among citizens who believe that, in principle, it is acceptable for state authorities to ban the activities of certain churches or religious associations, 63% hold the view that there are churches or religious associations in Ukraine whose activities should be banned.
LF Commentary
The desire for a complete ban on the structures of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine has persisted for the past four years. The reason for such public sentiment is clear.
According to official data released by the Security Service of Ukraine, since 2022 law enforcement agencies have initiated 208 criminal proceedings against clerics of this confession. The focus of the investigations is not theological disputes but specific unlawful actions connected with work in the interests of the aggressor state.
Among those involved are 27 senior church officials whom investigators suspect of cooperation with Russian intelligence services.
Investigators determined that some of these individuals used religious communities to recruit agents, disseminate pro Russian propaganda, and justify the war crimes of the Russian Federation.
One of the most recent cases involved the rector of a church in Donetsk Oblast who is suspected of directing enemy fire at Ukrainian troops. He is currently in custody.
In total, 78 clergymen of this confession have already received formal notices of suspicion. Forty individuals have been sentenced to real terms of imprisonment, including four bishops who headed dioceses in different parts of the country.
A separate line of action involved the verification of documents and citizenship of clerics with ties to Russia. As part of these procedures, Ukrainian citizenship was terminated or residence permits were revoked for 19 clergymen holding Russian passports.
As LF previously reported, the Kremlin insists on the protection of the Russian language and the rights of the Russian Orthodox Church, a Kremlin controlled instrument of influence, in Ukraine.
