Ukraine will limit the activities of Russian-affiliated religious organizations on its territory and will question the status of the Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Thursday.
“The National Security and Defense Council has instructed the government to propose to the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) a bill to make it impossible for religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence in Russia to carry out their activities in Ukraine,” he declared in his usual speech. evening by video .
According to Zelensky, the Ukrainian state should also investigate the status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in relation “to the presence of a canonical connection with the Moscow Patriarchate and, if necessary, take measures provided for by law.”
These measures are in line with the search operations carried out in November by the Ukrainian security services in the main monastery of Kiev, the capital and place of residence of the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and in other places of worship, justified by the alleged links to Moscow.
The Ukrainian decree services then announced the confiscation of thousands of dollars and “pro-Russian literature.”
Ukraine, a country with a majority Orthodox population, is divided between a Church dependent on the Moscow Patriarchate – which, however, announced the break of ties with Russia at the end of May due to the invasion of the country – and another Church represented by the Patriarchate of Kiev and who in 2019 paid allegiance to Istanbul-based Patriarch Bartholomew.
In the west of the country, the influence of the Greek-Catholic Church is significant, which observes the Orthodox liturgy but obeys the Pope.
Patriarch Kirill, supreme head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has expressed strong support for President Vladimir Putin, denouncing police actions in Ukraine as an “act of intimidation” targeting believers.
The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine has already caused the flight of more than 13 million people -more than six million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million to European countries-, according to the most recent data. of the UN, which catalogs this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the wider international community, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing them on Russia in political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented as confirmed since the beginning of the war 6,655 dead civilians and 10,368 wounded, stressing that these figures are far below the real ones.
Source: TSF
