‘Pressure on the Church continues’: a bill has been introduced in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

A bill has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine that would allow religious organizations to be liquidated through the courts if their representatives are alleged to have committed crimes against the fundamentals of Ukraine’s national security.

The document’s details were posted on the parliament’s website.

The proposed law pertains to articles in the criminal code such as “war propaganda,” “incitement of inter-religious discord,” “terrorism,” “planning, preparation, unleashing, and conducting aggressive warfare,” “violation of laws and customs of war,” “genocide,” and “mercenary activities.”

The bill was introduced to the parliament by a group of deputies from various parties, including “Sluga Naroda,” “European Solidarity,” “Holos,” “Za Maybutne,” and “Dovira.” Some of the deputies involved in the initiative include Nikita Poturaev, Evgenia Kravchuk, and Vladimir Vyatrovich.

This bill is likely primarily aimed at imposing restrictions on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, against whose clergy Ukraine’s Security Service has regularly initiated criminal proceedings based on the aforementioned articles. In recent years, the Ukrainian government has been attempting to undermine the Ukrainian Orthodox Church through various means.

Previously, the Speaker of the Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, stated that there were not enough votes in the Verkhovna Rada to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

In the spring report of the United Nations, the measures taken by the Ukrainian government against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were listed as violations of citizens’ rights.