The Verkhovna Rada postponed consideration of the law banning the UOC MP. MPs blocked the tribune

The rostrum of the parliament is being blocked in the Verkhovna Rada (the Urainian Parliament) — a number of MPs are demanding the second reading of the draft law banning religious organizations associated with Russia be put to a vote. This law actually prohibits the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP) in Ukraine.

The MP from the “Eurosolidarity” faction Oleksiy Honcharenko informed about this.

According to him, the "Servant of the People" faction "together with the remnants of the OPZZh" voted against putting this issue under consideration at the conciliation council.

The MP from the "Voice" faction Yaroslav Zheleznyak said that because of this, the MPs began to block the tribune. According to him, further meetings in the Verkhovna Rada were canceled. The next ones are scheduled to be held in August.

At the same time, Honcharenko does not confirm the cancellation of the meetings and says that the conciliation council is still going on. Among those blocking the tribune, there was a considerable number of Honcharenkoʼs fellow party members.

Updated at 2:44 p.m. Zheleznyak reported that the parliament had officially dissolved by August. Honcharenko also confirmed this and wrote that the next session of the Verkhovna Rada in August will begin with the draft law on banning the UOC MP, but the exact date is unknown.

• On January 19, 2023, the government submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law banning churches affiliated with Russia in Ukraine. This was done on the instructions of the National Security and Defense Council. On October 19, 2023, the parliament supported this draft law in the first reading.
• On December 27, 2022, the Constitutional Court recognized as constitutional the law of the Verkhovna Rada, which obliges to rename the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. It should change its name and indicate that its center is located in Moscow.