Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law a ban on religious organisations with ties to Russia, the country’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, announced on Saturday.
Aimed at prohibiting the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, as well as other religious organisations affiliated with it, the law also proscribes so-called “Russian world”, pro-Kremlin propaganda being espoused by religious organisations, the Verkhovna Rada statement said.
The main object of the ban is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP), a Ukrainian branch of the global Orthodox community seen as beholden to Moscow’s power and influence. The Verkhovna Rada adopted the bill, which was first introduced in January 2023, on Tuesday and it will come into effect in 30 days.
Holos Ukrainy, the official Verkhovna Rada newspaper, published details of the new law on 24 August, the 33rd anniversary of Ukraine’s declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.
About 29% of religious organisations in Ukraine remained under the control of the UOC MP at the start of the year, according to Diya, the Ukrainian government open data site, while the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which is independent of Moscow’s influence, controlled 22%.
The law has aroused much greater interest and caused more of a furore in Russia than in Ukraine, based on Russian media and blogger reactions. Earlier this month, the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow described the new law as an attempt to ban the UOC MP and “completely eliminate canonical Orthodoxy in Ukraine”.