On August 20, the Ukrainian Parliament passed the law “On the Protection of Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Religious Organizations’ Activities” in its second reading.
The new legislation prohibits the operations of foreign religious organizations linked with countries which are committing or being complicit in military aggression against Ukraine and/or temporarily occupying parts of its territory. It also targets religious groups that, through their leaders or other governing bodies, openly support military attacks against Ukraine, local media reported.
According to the legislation’s official language, the Russian Orthodox Church is involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on behalf of the Russian Federation and serves as an ideological extension of the aggressor state’s government.
It may also target the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). After years of close communion, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP) declared its independence from the Patriarchate of Moscow on 27 May 2022, in the 4th month of the Russian invasion. However, many have doubts about its independence.
Officially called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church but also known as the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, and even the ‘FSB church’, this religious organisation was – and, according to the Ukrainian government, still is – part of the Russian church, one of the pillars of the regime of Russian ruler Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian parliament adopted a law banning Russia-linked church
The bill was approved by 265 MPs of the Ukrainian Parliament out of the necessary 226 votes and was also widely welcomed by the public.
A 2023 poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that 66% of Ukrainians supported banning the Moscow-linked Church, 19% agreed to monitor the activities of the UOC MP and its representatives, 6% stated it is necessary to investigate only the offenses of individual representatives of the UOC MP.
Despite the new law, the Moscow-linked Church still controls around 9,000 parishes in Ukraine, compared to the 8,000–9,000 parishes of its independent rival, local media wrote. Each prohibition decision requires court approval.
A bill outlawing religious organizations with ties to Moscow has sparked strong responses.
Ukrainian MP Irina Gerashchenko, naturally, hailed the law as a “historic decision” that effectively bans a “subsidiary of the aggressor country in Ukraine.”
On August 16, Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine participated in an online conference with President Volodymyr Zelensky and members of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations. The discussion focused on protecting Ukraine’s spiritual independence and reducing Russian influence in Ukraine’s religious affairs.
Russian Orthodox Church’s reaction
The Russian Orthodox Church, understandably, fiercely disagreed with the Ukrainian Parliament’s decision, characterizing it as a legal prohibition on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The head of the synodal department for church-society relations and media at the Moscow Patriarchate, Vladimir Legoida, warned that this move could result in “massive violence against millions of believers.”
It is not surprising that Maria Zakharova, the Russian diplomatic spokesperson, has stated that the Ukrainian Parliament’s decision aims to “destroy true Orthodoxy and substitute it with a pseudo-church.”
Ironically, the Russian invading troops are demolishing churches and religious institutions across Ukraine, including those affiliated with Moscow.
Why is the church linked to Moscow seen as dangerous?
As of March 29th, 2024, during the full-scale invasion, Russian troops have damaged or completely destroyed a minimum of 630 churches, prayer houses, and other religious establishments in Ukraine.
Since the start of the comprehensive Russian invasion, the Security Service of Ukraine has initiated criminal proceedings against over 100 clergy members of the UOC-MP (Ukrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate). A court has served suspicion notices to nearly 50 of them, and sentenced 26 of them, as reported by the Religious information center of Ukraine.
For example, on the very day the legislation was adopted, the Security Service of Ukraine documented the subversive activities of the priest of the Vinnytsia diocese of the UOC (MP), the rector of the Kalinovsky deanery, who publicly justified Russia’s armed aggression and expected the invaders to come to the Vinnytsia region.
It concerns not just the security of Ukraine, though, but also that of Western nations, where the Kremlin uses religious members to disseminate propaganda and deploy operatives.
It is no secret that there is a vast global network of Russian and pro-Russian groups, as well as many advocates for political and cultural projections of the so-called concept “Russian world.”
Russia generously funds the politicians for their loyalty and to help build a positive image of the Russian regime on the international stage.
Such politicians are the backbone of Russian diplomacy, which projects “soft power” by hiring lobbyists from both the public and commercial sectors, along with the media, civic activists, specialist groups, and churches.
Through the efforts of law enforcement agencies, investigators, and the media, hundreds of these agents of influence have been revealed globally, both those directly participating and those involved in a covert manner. Nonetheless, thousands more are still unknown.
According to the Ukrainian media, Texty’s open-source study shared just before the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than 1,300 individuals and more than 900 organizations in 19 countries, of which 17 are EU members (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands, France, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Greece, and Sweden), plus Serbia and the UK.
And the very probable presence of Russian operatives within the Russian Orthodox Church in European countries could pose a significant threat.
