From April 28 to 30, 2025, a delegation from the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) held a series of advocacy meetings in New York, USA, engaging with the United Nations, American religious leaders, and civic organizations.
On the first day, UCCRO representatives met with the leadership of the Ukrainian Institute of America to discuss strategies for disseminating accurate information about Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and planning joint initiatives.
The delegation visited St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, located near the “Ground Zero” memorial at the former World Trade Center site. Rebuilt three years ago after its destruction in the September 2001 terrorist attacks, the church serves as both a parish and a memorial to the victims. After a tour, the delegation met with Bishop Nektarios, Secretary of the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and other Archdiocese representatives. They discussed religious persecution by the Russian Federation in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories and expressed gratitude for the Archdiocese’s prayers and solidarity. The Ukrainian faith leaders urged the Archdiocese to continue advocating for truth, justice, and the protection of life in the fourth year of the war.
At Ukraine’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, the UCCRO delegation met with Kristina Hayovyshyn, Acting Permanent Representative of Ukraine, to discuss protecting Ukraine’s interests amid the Russia-Ukraine war and enhancing capabilities at the UN level.
At the UN Secretariat, the delegation met with Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights and Head of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The UCCRO representatives briefed Ms. Brands Kehris on the state of religious freedom in Ukraine, highlighting persecution in Russian-occupied territories, including illegal arrests of clergy, killings of religious figures, and the closure of churches and prayer houses. They also discussed the UN’s efforts to document human rights violations in the context of the war.
On the final day, the delegation met with Bishop Robert Brennan, head of the Diocese of Brooklyn. The Ukrainian religious leaders shared how churches and religious organizations are operating under wartime conditions, including Russian attacks on religious sites, and expressed deep gratitude for the prayers, support, and solidarity shown to the Ukrainian people.
The UCCRO delegation’s visit to the United States was supported by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (Germany). Delegation members included: Pastor Igor Bandura, Vice President of the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptist Churches and representative of the UCCRO Chair; Metropolitan Yevstratii of Bila Tserkva, Deputy Head of the External Church Relations Department of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine; Bishop Vitaliy Kryvytskyi, Deputy Head of the Conference of Roman Catholic Bishops of Ukraine; Bishop Pavlo Khomnytskyi, Eparch of Stamford and Head of the Apostleship of the Sea of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church; Anatoliy Kozachok, Senior Bishop of the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church; Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine, representing the Union of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine; and Oleksandr Zaiets, Chairman of the Board of the Institute for Religious Freedom.
