The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has refuted the UN conclusions on amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On the protection of the constitutional order in the sphere of religious organizations" as such that distort reality.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has reviewed the 41st periodic report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, released on December 31, 2024. We reject the UN conclusions on amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On the protection of the constitutional order in the sphere of activities of religious organizations’ as such that distort reality," the ministry said in a comment.

The Foreign Ministry stressed that the law mentioned in the report does not provide for a ban on any of the existing churches in Ukraine.

"It only prevents the subordination of religious organizations in Ukraine to the governing centers that are located in the country that has carried out or is carrying out armed aggression against Ukraine and/or temporarily occupied part of its territory, as well as religious organizations that support armed aggression against Ukraine," the comment says.

The ministry also reminded the UN that Russia systematically uses religion as a weapon in the aggressive war against Ukraine.

Ukraine stressed that in this context, the Ukrainian state is obliged to protect its citizens from the destructive influence of the aggressor state, in particular through the use of religious organizations that are "merged with the state in the Russian Federation and have explicitly declared their goal to destroy Ukrainian statehood, culture, and identity."

"We remind the UN that it is Russia that, during its war of aggression, commits numerous crimes against religious freedoms, including, in particular, the premeditated murders of believers and religious figures, the destruction of religious buildings and holy sites throughout Ukraine, and the persecution of religious communities not belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry stressed.

The ministry also expects that in its reports the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission will continue to provide objective assessments of the real situation with religious freedom in Ukraine and will continue to record Russian crimes against Ukrainian believers, religious communities and leaders, and church property.