Zelenskyy Approves Ban Of Religious Organizations Allegedly Promoting Russian Interests

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2022) President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed an order authorizing the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) on restrictive measures against representatives of religious organizations allegedly connected with Russia to protect national security, the president's office said on Friday.

"To put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine dated December 1, 2022 On Certain Aspects of the Activities of Religious Organizations in Ukraine and the Application of Special Personal Economic and Other Restrictive Measures (Sanctions)," the order said.

The list of sanctioned organizations has not been revealed yet, however the document provides that the Ukrainian government will present a bill prohibiting religious organizations "affiliated with centers of influence in the Russian Federation". The Security Service of Ukraine, police and other law enforcement departments have been ordered to strengthen measures aimed at identification and counteraction of "undermining activity" allegedly conducted by the Russian secret service in the religious environment of Ukraine, according to the decree.

Oleksiy Honcharenko, a member of former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's party, European Solidarity, said that his party had already submitted a draft bill on ban of the Russian Orthodox Church and its affiliates on the territory of Ukraine.

He added that all contracts on renting churches, cathedrals and other monuments with Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of the Moscow Patriarchate would be canceled, if the bill was adopted.

The UOC, in turn, said that it had always obeyed the law of Ukraine, according to the Strana.ua online publication.

"The UOC has always carried out its activities in accordance with the Ukrainian legislation. Public reports on multiple inspections of its temples and monasteries confirm the absence of prerequisites for accusations relating to the national security," a UOC representative said, mews media reported.

The UOC also noted that its renewed charter adopted in May had repeatedly survived a scrutiny of professional theologians and expressed hopes that it would do so again.

On December 1, Zelenskyy stated that "spiritual independence" would be guaranteed and all religious organizations affiliated with Russia would be banned in order to strip them of opportunities "to manipulate Ukrainians and weaken Ukraine from within".

In recent months, the Ukrainian authorities have increased pressure on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Radical nationalist groups and proponents of the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine have been seizing temples, attacking clergy and parishioners of the UOC. On November 29, the Lviv region of Ukraine prohibited the UOC.