Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday, 24 August, signed the law providing for a ban on the activities in Ukraine of religious organisations affiliated with Russia, with such a document the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) can cease.
The purpose of the law is to ban the activities in Ukraine of the Russian Orthodox Church and religious organisations affiliated with it. The law comes into force on the day following the day of its publication.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church still owns the largest number of parishes – 9,107 compared to 5,194 among other Orthodox churches. The complete ban of the UOC would entail a potentially huge transfer of buildings and property to the government-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
The UOC has long-standing ties to the Russian Orthodox Church; it declared its independence from Moscow in May 2022 after the Ukrainian-Russian conflict erupted in February of that year. Despite, the Russian Orthodox Church still includes clergy affiliated with the UOC. The bill then passed its first reading in October 2023.
That same year in October, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) began conducting regular raids in search of “anti-Ukrainian” materials in UOC churches, imposing sanctions on its bishops and supporters, and opening criminal cases against dozens of clergy.
The law therefore implies that if ties with the Russian Orthodox Church are established, a religious organisation has nine months to sever them and join another Orthodox church, such as the government-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (PCU), otherwise they risk facing legal action.
In addition, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) earlier criticised the draft law on banning religious organisations linked to Russia. The OHCHR believes that the actions against the UOC may be discriminatory, as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church still owns the largest number of parishes.
