DESS official gives number of clergy exempt from mobilization in Ukraine

DESS official Vyacheslav Horshkov. Photo: screenshot from the "Experts' Cabinet" YouTube channel

Vyacheslav Horshkov, head of the DESS Religious Affairs Department, said on the Experts' Cabinet program that 7,907 clergy members in Ukraine are currently exempt from mobilization.

DESS has included 11,220 religious organizations on its list of critical organizations, but the actual number of clergy granted exemptions is substantially lower. “The number of those exempt from mobilization has never equaled the number of religious organizations designated as critical. It is always much lower... We won’t even reach 10,000 exemptions,” Horshkov said.

The official said that three categories are currently eligible for mobilization exemptions: heads of religious organizations; officially employed clergy who were added to staff no later than November 17, 2025; and clergy sent on extended assignments abroad.

The DESS representative stressed that newly established communities or organizations registered after November 17, 2025, will not be granted critical status and will therefore be unable to secure mobilization exemptions for their employees.

Horshkov also acknowledged that the state criteria for inclusion on the list of critical organizations prevent communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from securing mobilization exemptions for their clergy. DESS attributes these restrictions to allegations of affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that DESS had updated its list of religious organizations eligible for mobilization exemptions. The list includes 61 communities of the effectively defunct Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, 19 pagan organizations, and communities of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

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