'Orthodox battlefield' in Russia's war against Ukraine discussed in London
The speakers at the roundtable at Chatham House were:
- Metropolitan Yevstratiy (Zorya) of Bila Tserkva, Orthodox Church of Ukraine;
- Lucy Ash, journalist and author of "The Baton and the Cross: Russia's Church from Pagans to Putin";
- Pastor Ihor Bandura, All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christian Baptist Churches.
The event was moderated by Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House.
The following issues were discussed at the roundtable:
- What is the significance of the Orthodox faith for Ukraine's identity and nation-building project?
- What is the reasoning behind the ban on the Russian Orthodox Church and the recognition of affiliated organizations in Ukraine?
- What is the nature of state-religious relations in modern Russia?
- What has been happening in Ukraine since 2014, when Russia first began its invasion of Ukraine?
- What is the actual state of religious freedom in Ukraine?
- How do different religious communities cooperate during the war?
The video of the roundtable can be viewed here:
On 29 January 2025, the delegation of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) met in London with the Eastern Research Group of the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the UK Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, David Smith.
The delegation includes: The representative of the Chairman of the Council of Churches, Bishop Ihor Bandura (AUCECB), Metropolitan Yevstratiy (Orthodox Church of Ukraine), Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church), Bishop Anatolii Kozachok (Ukrainian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith), Bishop Stanislav Nosov (Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ukraine), Fr Ruslan Mykhalkiv (Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine), Pastor Anatoliy Raychynets (Ukrainian Bible Society), Assistant to the Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine, Gennadiy Bilorytsky (Association of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine), and Oleksandr Zayets (Institute for Religious Freedom).
