Robert Amsterdam is a renowned international human rights lawyer who is currently engaged in a significant case concerning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, reports the investigative news program Nexus on TRT World. In the segment, he argues that the church is facing systematic persecution under the regime of President Volodymyr Zelensky. With over four decades of … Read more
The following press statement was issued to media today: KYIV, UKRAINE – March 28, 2025 – International lawyer Robert Amsterdam, representing the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), vehemently condemns the unauthorised intrusion by the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture into the sacred Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, one of Eastern Orthodoxy’s most revered holy sites and a UNESCO World … Read more
The brotherhood of the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra has requested prayers for Metropolitan Arseniy, who remains in a pre-trial detention center in Dnipro, according to a message published on the monastery’s website and reported by the Information and Education Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Reports indicate the metropolitan’s cell lacks heating, potentially endangering his … Read more
Ahead of Robert Amsterdam’s participation in a panel event at the International Religious Freedom Summit 2024 in Washington DC, Amsterdam & Partners LLP and Save the UOC are releasing a new report documenting the latest abuses inflicted upon our church by the Ukrainian government, as well as detailing the illegality of Law 3894, which aims … Read more
Following statements of concern and condemnation of the Ukrainian government’s recently passed law to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church issued by organizations as diverse as Human Rights Watch and His Holiness the Pope, Robert Amsterdam, lawyer for the UOC, has issued a new filing before the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
Metropolitan Agafangel of Odesa of Izmail, permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, has published a letter written to President-elect Donald Trump. In his letter, Metropolitan Agafangel writes, “We believe that with your election as President of the great nation of the United States, peace will come not only to the … Read more
Robert Amsterdam, international lawyer for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, has published an oped in the Moscow Times detailing the Ukrainian government’s persecution of his clients and arguing for intervention. Amsterdam urges the Ukrainian government to submit their new law on religious cleansing for international review before bodies such as the EU’s Venice Commission. Excerpt below: … Read more
The non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch has issued a statement today highlighting their concerns that Ukraine’s recently passed law which will allow for the banning of an entire religious denomination would violate international human rights law. According to Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, “the law interferes with the right … Read more
On September 18th, the Hudson Institute is hosting an event titled “Religion in the Crossfire between Russia and Ukraine,” featuring speakers Nina Shea, Oleksandr Aliksiichuk, Dr. Maksym Vasin, Lauren Homer, Pavlo Unguryan, Dmitry Bodyu, and Dr. Katharyn Hanson. Not a single one of these individuals represents the views of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the largest … Read more
On September 15th, the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America approved a statement regarding the newly passed law in Ukraine which would grant the authorities extraordinary powers to place an outright ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, depriving millions of Ukrainian citizens of their internationally guaranteed rights to religious freedom … Read more