TRANSFORMATION OF THE RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE OF UKRAINE UNDER THE WAR CONDITIONS: INTERNAL AND INTERRELIGIOUS CHALLENGES

Abstract

The article examines changes in the religious landscape of Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2014 and, especially, in the context of a full-scale invasion from 2022. The annexation of Crimea and the occupation of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and later Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, significantly influenced the configuration of the Ukrainian religious map. For the first time during the years of state independence and the establishment of freedom of conscience and religion, a significant decrease in the number of religious organizations and a reduction in the geography of their distribution were recorded. The situation in the religious sphere in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, where the collaborating authorities impose the Russian model of state-church relations and prohibit the activities of many religious communities, is separately analyzed. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to outline the current religious situation in Ukraine through the prism of changes that have occurred and are occurring in the context of the war. The study used such methods as comparative analysis, statistical review, and observation. The results of the study showed that the war accelerated the identification processes in Ukrainian society, accelerated state-confessional relations in the country, however, the principles of freedom of conscience and religion are generally observed. At the same time, after the Russian invasion, many religious communities lost their places of worship either as a result of destruction due to bombing or due to appropriation by the new “authorities” in temporarily occupied territories. Mass migration of Ukrainian citizens from dangerous regions also caused the cessation of the activities of a significant number of communities. The conclusions established that the main tension today in the religious sphere of Ukraine is related to the ambiguous position of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the reaction of its leadership to Russian aggression. At the same time, a difficult situation remains for religious communities of all directions – due to the security situation, destruction, migration of a significant number of believers, and in the occupied territories there are frequent cases of cessation of activities due to a ban, or underground activities.