Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the law banning the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The official text of the normative act was published on the Parliament's website, the world news agencies reported, quoted by BTA.
The law, the adoption of which has been condemned by Russia, was approved on Ukraine's independence day from the Soviet Union, and also two and a half years after the Russian invasion of the Eastern European country. In a speech, the Ukrainian leader said that this decision solidifies Ukraine's independence. "Ukrainian Orthodoxy is today taking a step towards freeing itself from the demons of Moscow," he said.
Ukraine has been trying to free itself from Russian spiritual hegemony since 2014, but these efforts received a new, even more decisive boost after Russia invaded its territory in 2022. The UOC officially announced in 2022, that it was severing ties with the Moscow Patriarchate, but the Ukrainian authorities repeatedly accused its clergy of remaining loyal to Russia.
The invasion of Ukraine was blessed by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, a staunch ally of President Vladimir Putin, notes AFP. On Tuesday, Ukraine's parliament passed a bill that would ban the Russian-linked church. According to a 2023 survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 66% of Ukrainians support such a ban.
The Russian-linked church, according to media reports, still has about 9,000 parishes in Ukraine, roughly equal (between 8,000 and 9,000) to its independent competitor, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). The OCU received ecclesiastical independence (autocephaly) from the Ecumenical Patriarch in Istanbul.
In addition to the law banning Moscow-related religious institutions, Zelensky also signed a law on the ratification of the Rome Statute, Reuters reported. Ukraine's signing of this international legal act allows Kyiv to join the International Criminal Court. The adoption of this law is also a key requirement from the EU to Ukraine on its way to membership in the European Union.