EDITOR’S NOTE: The reported call below by Yevhen Karas to “de-occupy” Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) churches is alarming. It reflects a dangerous mindset in which political hostility is used to justify religious persecution under the guise of national security.
Ukraine has every right to defend itself against Russian aggression. But that right does not extend to collective punishment, intimidating believers, or unlawfully seizing churches. Branding an entire religious community as an enemy is not patriotism. It is an assault on fundamental freedoms and the democratic values Ukraine claims to defend.
Religious liberty cannot depend on political allegiance, and national security must never become a license for persecution.
The international community must not remain silent. Ukraine’s sovereignty deserves protection, but so do its faithful’s rights. A democracy that sacrifices religious freedom in the name of defending itself risks undermining the very principles it fights to preserve.
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Karas urges to “de-occupy” UOC churches after Trump’s remarks on Zelensky
Radical activist Yevhen Karas said that following Trump’s call for Zelensky to step down, nothing stands in the way of seizing all UOC churches.
Yevhen Karas, former leader of the neo-Nazi organization C14 and now commander of the 413th Raid Regiment of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, has called for the “de-occupation” of all churches belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He cited statements by U.S. President Donald Trump calling for Zelensky’s resignation and a change of government in Ukraine as the reason for his appeal. Karas made the remarks on his Telegram channel.
“Friends, great news!” Karas began his post, noting that “the U.S. president is now whining in unison with Mendel, the FSB, and Shariy about the urgent resignation of Ukraine’s president.”
According to Karas, Ukrainians have “finally been cured of their inferiority complex,” and there is now “no point in licking foreigners’ heels.” Germany also came under fire in his post. Karas suggested that Chancellor Friedrich Merz could be replaced by “far-right lesbians from Alternative for Germany or a communist transgender person from the Wagenknecht Alliance.”
Karas then turned his attention to the Church.
“Yet Ukraine is still poisoned in some places by Russian Orthodox Church and FSB strongholds on our soil. In the past, though, we were afraid of Trump, the UN, Clara Zetkin, or Greta Tumbler,” he wrote.
“But now nothing stands in our way of finally de-occupying all our churches and places of worship and depriving Putin of his strategic reserve of saboteurs and agents,” Karas declared.
He ended his post with the battle cry “Hoyda!” [“Onward!” – Trans.] and invited anyone wishing to join him to write to the email address he provided.
On October 10, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that Volodymyr Zelensky had repeatedly had opportunities to reach a deal but had failed to do so, and that it was therefore time for Ukraine to elect a new president.
As the UOJ previously reported, Karas described Ukraine’s wars against Russia as “holy.”
