How many supporters of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) are left in Ukraine: sociologists released survey data

In recent years, Ukraine has seen significant changes in the church self-determination of Orthodox believers. In particular, Russia's full-scale invasion has significantly reduced the number of those who identify themselves as believers of the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate.

As of 2024, there were only 5.5% of supporters of the UOC-MP in Ukraine. This is evidenced by the results of research conducted by the Oleksandr Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies.

The number of those who consider themselves to be believers of the UOC-MP has decreased significantly (from 13% in 2021 to 5.5% in 2024). This trend has been observed since the beginning of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.

The majority of respondents (54%) say that relations between believers of different churches and religions in the area where they live are calm, and another 10% say they are friendly. In 2022, compared to 2021, the proportion of those who believe that they are conflicting increased from 3% to 6%, and from 5% to 14% – that they are tense. At the same time, in 2024, compared to 2022, the assessment of the level of conflict remained almost unchanged (5%), and the share of those who consider them tense decreased to 9%.

Conflict or tension in relations between believers of different churches is reported by 20% of respondents in the Central region, 13% in the Western region, 10% in the Eastern region, and only 1% in the Southern region.

As a reminder, the Security Service of Ukraine detained a 20-year-old resident of Cherkasy who supported Russia and had been hiding in the monasteries of the UOC (MP) for more than two years. The man disappeared in July 2022 – a day before the election of a preventive measure in the case under Part 3 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, the rector of the church of the Vinnytsia Diocese of the UOC-Moscow Patriarchate was sentenced to five years in prison. According to the investigation, the clergyman justified Russia's criminal war against Ukraine, praised Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, heroized the occupiers, and waited for the capture of Vinnytsia region.

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