The deputies of the Chernivtsi Regional Council banned the activities of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP) on the territory of the region.
The Council will also analyze the legality of the Moscow Patriarchateʼs use of temples and churches that were given to this organization free of charge.
The deputies plan to appeal to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) so that the MPs adopt the draft law "On ensuring strengthening of national security in the sphere of freedom of conscience and activities of religious organizations." It defines the peculiarities of the activities of foreign religious organizations on the territory of Ukraine.
In particular, one of the clauses refers to the prohibition of foreign religious organizations that support armed aggression against Ukraine, for example, through the speeches of their leaders.
- The UOC MP is a part of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), which officially has the status of a "self-governing church with the rights of wide autonomy" in Ukraine. At the cathedral on May 27, the UOC MP declared its independence (made changes to the charter) and expressed disagreement with the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill, who supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but did not condemn him.
- The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience established that the decisions of the UOC MP "did not lead to the severance of church-canonical ties with the Russian Orthodox Church" and the administration of the UOC MP "continues to be subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church."