This content was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Russian lawmakers on August 20 , approved , a bill banning religious companies linked to the Russian Orthodox Church, which Kyiv has criticized for being friendly of Moscow’s full-scale war.
Lawmaker Oleksandr Honcharenko , said , 265 members in parliament ( Verkhovna Rada ) approved the bill that once signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will pave the way to banning the branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church ( UOC), which is associated with the Moscow Patriarchate.
The bill prohibits the activities of religious organizations that are “in a state that engages in military aggression against Ukraine” ( in a condition that carries out military aggression against Ukraine ). A court of justice would be able to end these actions, according to the statement.
Zelenskiy , thanked lawmakers , and called the policy” the rules on our religious freedom”.
” With members of the Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, we have been talking about this. And I’ll be talking with Bartholomew’s staff in the coming time about it. We may continue to improve our Ukraine, our society”, Zelenskiy said in a video statement.
The act has been a hot topic for politicians. Senior legislators in July refused to vote on it, leading to the arrest of delegates from various events who had armed with a banner that read” The Moscow chapel dies.”
The policy targeting the UOC, whose contentious part in Ukraine has drawn more attention since Russia launched its full-scale war in February 2022, divided Zelenskiy’s Servant of the People group.
In October 2023, Ukrainian politicians gave their first assent to the costs.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which was once under the control of the Soviet Orthodox father in Moscow, is a branch of the UOC. Russia’s unwarranted invasion of Ukraine led to the official coup that ended ties with Moscow last month, but church-linked officials have been accused of keeping up relations with Russia.
The Ukrainian Security Service ( SBU) said in October that 68 criminal cases, including accusations of treason, had been initiated against UOC representatives since Russia’s invasion.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has accused Kyiv of trying to portray its Ukrainian priests and followers as “agents of the Russian Federation,” as per the UOC, which has insisted the policy would not be in line with the Ukrainian Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
On August 20, Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, who is an assistant to the Russian Orthodox Church’s leader, Patriarch Kirill, condemned the Russian lawmakers ‘ acceptance of the act, saying it violates the religious right of the Russian people.
The rules that the Verkhovna Rada adopted violates internationally recognized standards for the protection of religious freedom, according to Balashov, and opens the door to the Kyiv regime’s plan to use anti-church oppression even more frequently.
Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Russia have steadfast support from the Russian Orthodox Church.
