Ukraine’s parliament has banned the activities of religious groups tied to the Russian Orthodox Church or any other faith group supporting Russia’s invasion
FILE - The Monastery of the Caves, also known as Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of the holiest sites of Eastern Orthodox Christians, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 23, 2023. Ukraine’s parliament has banned the activities of religious groups tied to the Russian Orthodox Church or any other faith group supporting Russia's invasion — a measure widely seen as targeting a Ukrainian religious body, despite its claim to independence from Moscow.
A large majority of Ukrainians are Orthodox, but they are divided between two main groups with similar names: the UOC and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which would not be affected by the legislation. Many Ukrainians continue to call the UOC the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate, as it was commonly known, despite its recent claims to independence.
The bill authorizes the government to investigate suspect religious groups, though final court enforcement of any action could not take effect until nine months after the law’s publication. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has had a centuries-long affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church. Three months after Russia’s invasion in 2022, the UOC declared its “full self-sufficiency and independence” from Moscow, and it has repeatedly declared its loyalty and called on members to fight for Ukraine as a sacred duty.
“It’s rare in law to find a bill so contemptuous of legal standards as this bill,” attorney Robert Amsterdam, whose firm is based in Washington and London, said in an interview. "We will go to every court we can. We will go to the United Nations.” Ukrainians consider that concept as ideological aggression, noting that Kyiv adopted Christianity in the 10th century and was the region’s political and spiritual center long before the rise of Moscow.
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