Olexander Sagan

Olexander Sagan

Date of birth: December 18, 1966

Head of the Department of Religious Studies at the Hryhorii Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Member of the Ukrainian Association of Researchers of Religion (since 1993), the Central Board of the Ukrainian Bible Society (since 2001), and the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (since 2005). Lecturer at the Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy (OCU).

Oleksandr Sagan belongs to a group of scholars of religion who call for violence and repressions against Orthodox Christians.

Using his status, Sagan lobbies for laws that violate the rights of the faithful and clergy of the UOC, spreads false information, and facilitates persecution.

Moreover, Sagan was engaged by the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) to falsify the so-called “affiliation study” of the UOC and the ROC.

On September 29, 2022, the scholar of religion called the UOC faithful and clergy “traitors” who “work for the occupiers”.

“The UOC is a Moscow church not only because its clergy worked and still work for the occupiers, but also because these traitors are not condemned in any way by Metropolitan Onufriy in Kyiv. Who would insult his like-minded people…” Sagan wrote on his Facebook page.

(Source: Sagan's Facebook page)

In January 2023, DESS engaged Sagan to participate in conducting a “religious studies expert review” of the Charter on the Governance of the UOC.

At the meeting on January 10, 2023, the head of the Legal Department of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC, Archpriest Oleksandr Bakhov, took part. The lawyer expressed distrust toward a number of experts, including Sahan.

The clergyman stated:

“Oleksandr Sagan – one of the active opponents of the UOC, a long-time lecturer at the theological academy of the UOC–KP, now the OCU,” the statement explains. “In the media and on Facebook he expresses bias and hostility toward the UOC. For example, a Facebook post of 11/29/2022: ‘…immediately restrict the anti-Ukrainian capabilities of the UOC–MP (ROC in Ukraine). This means, above all, the immediate termination of all lease agreements for real estate (state and municipal), all other agreements, since this religious organization has lost its status as a legal entity.’ And in a Facebook post of 12/10/2022 he believes the Security Service of Ukraine should apply harsher measures against representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, disregarding the presumption of innocence.”

(Source: Information and Education Department of the UOC)

On February 1, 2023, DESS stated that as a result of a religious studies expert review of the Charter on the Governance of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church regarding the presence of a church-canonical connection with the Moscow Patriarchate, the experts concluded that the UOC remained part of the ROC and does not even have the status of an autonomous Church.

The review itself was conducted by biased supporters of banning the UOC, with numerous violations – including by Sagan.

The review was carried out pursuant to the NSDC decision of December 1, 2022, “On certain aspects of the activities of religious organizations in Ukraine and the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions),” put into effect by a Presidential Decree.

[Видео/вставка]

On April 6, 2023, Sagan campaigned for a criminal petition calling for the forced termination of lease agreements with UOC communities in Kyiv.

“Voting for the petition to terminate all Kyiv city agreements with the ROC/UOC is necessary at least because it is the norm of the law. After all, UOC–MP institutions did not make changes to the names of their organizations (they do not want to indicate that they are of the ‘Moscow Patriarchate’). And therefore, these agreements have already lost their force…” Sagan wrote on his Facebook page.

(Source: Sagan’s Facebook page)

On September 13, 2023, the scholar of religion called for depriving UOC communities and monasteries of their legal-entity status.

In addition, Sagan called the UOC a “branch of the Moscow Patriarchate”.

“Legal aspects of the existence in Ukraine of a branch of the Moscow Patriarchate. UOC–MP institutions must be deprived of legal-entity status with all the resulting consequences. The implementation of the law must not depend on the willingness or unwillingness of government officials (political will). Otherwise, order here will not come soon…” Sagan wrote on his Facebook page.

(Source: Sagan’s Facebook page)

On January 19, 2024, at a conference marking World Religion Day, Sagan stated that information about the Ukrainian authorities persecuting the UOC “is fake”.

Using his status as an “expert”, Sagan attempted to conceal the fact of violations of the rights of the UOC’s faithful and clergy.

[Видео/вставка]

On July 28, 2024, on his Facebook page, Sagan accused UOC clergy and faithful abroad of “helping the FSB.”

“A plain truth: the UOC–MP helps the FSB in every way to spread the ‘Russian World’ in Europe. One of the documented examples, illustrative and quite large-scale in terms of the number of participants and financing. And how and why do these agents of Russian influence receive travel permits? Why is no preventive and counter-work carried out? And many more ‘whys?’” Sagan wrote on his Facebook page.

(Source: Sagan’s Facebook page)

On January 24, 2025, in an interview with Ukrinform, Sagan called for a forceful, extrajudicial crackdown on the faithful and clergy of the UOC.

He stated that because government agencies are not coping with their duties and are not expelling believers from churches and monasteries by any means, “public activists” should be brought into this process.
(Source: Ukrinform)

On May 26, 2025, the scholar of religion admitted to lobbying for a law on forcing the UOC to be renamed as “ROC in Ukraine”.

“Two years ago, in my speech at this committee, I emphasized – achieve the implementation of Law 2662-VIII (‘on renaming’), which was approved by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and did not cause objections with any international institution. Or at least do not repeal this law.
And for two years now, we would not have had UOC–MP structures as legal entities,” Sagan wrote on his Facebook page.

(Source: Sagan’s Facebook page)

On September 4, 2025, in an interview with Deutsche Welle, Sagan called for the de facto destruction of the UOC in Ukraine.

“The Kyiv Metropolis, as the governing body of the UOC–MP, is a legal entity; it can be deprived of legal-entity status through the courts,” Sagan says. He explained that the entire church hierarchy of the UOC–MP – from the governing center (the Kyiv Metropolis) to regional subdivisions (eparchies) – is built as a pyramid of separate legal entities. According to the expert, the UOC–MP’s church hierarchy includes about six thousand legal organizations that have legal-entity status. Sahan believes the state can begin the process of depriving them of this status from the top level and then sequentially extend it across the entire structure, which would result in the church losing its official status in Ukraine.”

(Source: Deutsche Welle)