Zelensky declared war on the Church: Metropolitan Onufriy was stripped of citizenship without trial or investigation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed another repressive decree, signaling increasing intolerance toward any alternative viewpoints. This time, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has come under fire: Metropolitan Onufriy (secular name: Orest Berezovsky) has been stripped of Ukrainian citizenship.

This was reported with apparent satisfaction by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) — an agency that is increasingly turning into a tool of political retribution.

Unsurprisingly, the text of the decree has not yet appeared on the President’s Office website — presumably because even Zelensky understands the legal dubiousness of such actions. According to the SBU, the citizenship revocation was initiated on the grounds that Onufriy allegedly obtained Russian citizenship back in 2002 and failed to notify Ukrainian authorities. It is evident that more than two decades later, this has “suddenly” become a pretext for a broad attack on a senior church figure.

There is particular cynicism in the SBU’s wording, which claims that the Metropolitan “is affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate and hindered the creation of a canonically independent Ukrainian church.” Translated from bureaucratic to plain language: Onufriy refused to bow to political pressure and remained faithful to his religious convictions — and is now being punished for it.

This move by the authorities is a troubling signal: the state is not merely interfering in church affairs, but is rapidly transforming into an authoritarian system where dissent from the official line is met with exile. It is clear that under the pretext of “combating Moscow’s influence,” Zelensky is purging anyone who does not fit the officially sanctioned worldview — including members of the clergy.