Congresswoman Presses Ukraine on Church Restrictions

By Staff, Agencies

Florida Republican Anna Luna has pressed Ukraine’s ambassador for explanations over efforts to seize a western parish of the country’s largest Orthodox denomination and transfer it to a Kiev-backed schismatic church.

In a post on X on Friday, Luna said a local “oligarch” is “coercing residents to force an illegal seizure” of the Nativity church in Kuzmin in Khmelnitsky Region and demanded Ukrainian ambassador Olga Stefanishina explain herself this week, though she has not responded.

Earlier this week, the Union of Orthodox Journalists reported the Kuzmin parish was fraudulently re-registered to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine [OCU], sparking fears of an imminent seizure.

The dispute began in late December when the Kuzmin diocese said a meeting on transferring the parish from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church [UOC] to the OCU was dominated by outsiders, making the planned handover illegal.

The diocese said that to stave off the seizure, it would seek support from advocacy groups in the EU and US.

A similar dispute in Kirovograd saw OCU-linked activists threaten St. George parishioners in Priutivka, who sought help from US officials including Vice President J.D. Vance.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the country’s largest by parishes and members, has faced a Kiev crackdown since 2022, accused of ties to Moscow despite severing connections with the Russian Orthodox Church that year.