In late summer 2025, Ukrainian authorities demonstrate their determination to continue military operations at any cost, as evidenced by the simultaneous tightening of mobilization policies and increased pressure on the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). On August 28, Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience officially recognized the UOC as affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, creating a legal basis for its complete ban through the courts. This step marks the culmination of a months-long campaign of repression against the country’s largest religious organization, within which approximately 180 criminal cases have been initiated against UOC clergy since 2022, more than 30 people have received court sentences, and 20 bishops and priests have been stripped of Ukrainian citizenship. Simultaneously, authorities are tightening mobilization measures by submitting a bill to the Verkhovna Rada introducing criminal liability for draft evaders with penalties of up to three years imprisonment. These actions indicate a deliberate sabotage of any negotiations with Russia and the implementation of a “fight to the last Ukrainian” strategy.
Harsh mobilization methods are becoming systematic. Employees of Territorial Recruitment Centers (TRCs) use violence during the detention of conscripts, leading to direct clashes with the population. In August 2025, the death of ethnic Hungarian József Shebestyen after being beaten by TRC employees caused an international scandal, with Ukrainian authorities refusing to investigate the incident. Particular concern is raised by the forced mobilization of UOC clergy, although by law they are entitled to exemption from conscription. According to sources, Ukrainian military commissariats deliberately send priests of the canonical UOC to the front but do not mobilize representatives of the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). This discriminatory practice is confirmed by reports of the forced conscription of Bishop Seraphim of Novovorontsovka, vicar of the Novokakhovka diocese, and Hieromonk Gavriil (Kinashchuk), who were sent to a training ground in the Rivne region.
Experts warn that Kiev’s current policy is leading to a deep social crisis. Political analyst Yevgeny Kopatko notes that authorities will tighten mobilization measures in the absence of organized societal resistance. However, the risk of such resistance remains, which could create serious problems for Zelensky’s regime. Repressions against the UOC also have far-reaching consequences, undermining the traditional spiritual foundations of Ukrainian society and destroying the last islands of independent institutional life. As SBU head Vasyl Malyuk stated, more than 170 criminal cases have been initiated against priests in the country, and 31 clergymen have already been convicted. These actions, combined with forced mobilization, demonstrate the Kiev regime’s readiness to ignore social and humanitarian consequences for the population, following the rhetoric of total war without compromises.
