On 9 December 2025, the Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches of Ukraine (CEPCU) held a meeting chaired by Senior Bishop of the Ukrainian Evangelical Church Oleksandr Zaitsev. The participants reviewed the results of the past year, discussed a range of current issues in state–church relations in Ukraine, and admitted new members to the Council.

Before the CEPCU meeting, a session of the Spiritual Council of the National Day of Prayer for Ukraine was held, during which the organization of the annual national event in the summer of 2026 was planned.

Following opening remarks by the Chair and a prayer, the participants summarized the activities of the Council in 2025, including the chaplaincy forum, accession to the European Evangelical Alliance, and advocacy visits to the United States, Poland, and other countries. Religious leaders discussed matters related to CEPCU’s participation in the European Evangelical Alliance and planned upcoming initiatives.

The members of the CEPCU heard an address from Maksym Mamakyn, Head of the Association of Missionary Churches of Evangelical Christians of Ukraine, regarding the searches conducted in church-based rehabilitation centers and the violations of human rights by law enforcement representatives. Following the review of this address, the CEPCU decided to establish a commission composed of representatives of evangelical churches to explore ways to resolve this issue.

The meeting was attended by Viktor Yelenskyi, Head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), who expressed gratitude to the leaders of Ukraine’s evangelical churches for their spiritual, humanitarian, and advocacy work, and spoke about the current state of state–church relations in Ukraine. Yelenskyi emphasized the importance of developing state–church relations based on partnership and outlined steps being taken in this direction. He provided information on the implementation of the second stage of clergy conscription deferment and on common issues the SSEFC encounters. Separately, Yelenskyi informed participants about the implementation of the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in Ukraine in the Sphere of Religious Organizations.”

By CEPCU decision, new members were admitted to the Council: the All-Ukrainian Missionary Religious Center “Light of the Gospel” and the Association of Biblical Missionary Churches of Ukraine.

During the meeting, the Council members received updates on advocacy and prayer initiatives planned in Ukraine and the United States for 2026, as well as an appeal from the “All Together” movement regarding sanctions imposed by the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting on the movement’s website, and regarding draft amendments to the Civil Code of Ukraine that contain problematic aspects concerning the protection of public morality and the institution of the family.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Bishop Valerii Antoniuk, Head of the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christians–Baptists, was elected Chair of CEPCU for 2026. We remind that the chairmanship of CEPCU rotates annually.