Zelensky signed a law banning religious organizations connected to Russia

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law that prohibits the activities of religious organizations connected to Russia in Ukraine.

This is stated in the card of the law.

The law should make impossible the activity of churches that are governed by the state that carries out aggression against Ukraine, i.e. Russia. In particular, we are talking about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Religious organizations suspected of cooperation with the Russian Orthodox Church will be checked by the relevant expert commission. It should be created by the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS). If the commission records a violation, DESS will issue an order to the church to correct the situation.

After that, a court must be held to decide whether to ban the religious organization. At the same time, the religious organization does not mean the entire UOC MP, but individual legal entities that represent it. This means that each parish or diocese will be banned separately.

The law enters into force 30 days after its publication. At the same time , the UOC MP communities will have 9 months to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Prohibition of the UOC-MP in Ukraine

On January 19, 2023 , the government submitted to the Council 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 July 23, 2024, a number of peopleʼs deputies blocked the rostrum of the Rada due to the refusal to put the project to a vote. However, the voting did not take place then. Chairman of the Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk said that the deputies decided to concentrate on finalizing certain provisions of the law so that it could be put to a vote as soon as possible.

On August 15, Zelenskyy called on the Verkhovna Rada to act quickly in the decision on "religious independence." And the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Epiphany called on the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Metropolitan Onufriy to dialogue about unity.

Already on August 20 , the Rada supported the draft law on banning the UOC-MP.