How the number of believers of the OCU and UOC-MP has changed since the beginning of the full-scale war - sociology

Since the outbreak of full-scale war in Ukraine, the religious affiliation of citizens has changed. In particular, the share of those who consider themselves to be members of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) continued to grow. This was reported by Mykhailo Mishchenko, Deputy Director of the Razumkov Center's sociological service, during a briefing, according to a correspondent of UNN.

Details

"After the outbreak of full-scale war, there was an increase in the share of those who identified themselves as the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. In fact, it began even before the outbreak of a full-scale war. In 2021, the share of those who identified themselves as the OCU was 24%, in 2022 it increased to 36%, in 2023 to 42% among all respondents. Although in 2024, this share decreased to 35%," Mishchenko noted.

According to the sociologist, this decrease in the number of those who identified themselves as belonging to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in 2024 is, in particular, due to a decrease in their attitude toward Orthodoxy. Compared to 2023, the number of such people decreased from 61% to 51%.

"After the outbreak of a full-scale war, the number of those who consider themselves to be believers of the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate has significantly decreased. In 2021, there were 13% of such people, while according to the latest survey, the number is 5.5%," Mishchenko emphasized.

For reference 

The survey involved 2,017 respondents aged 18 and older. The theoretical sampling error does not exceed 2.3%.

Recall 

There is not a single registered religious community of the UOC-MP left in Lviv region. Of the 54 communities that existed before the full-scale invasion, 27 joined the OCU and 27 ceased operations on their own.