Searches at Ukrainian Orthodox (Moscow Patriarchate) sites: Zelenskyy promises to continue fighting for "spiritual independence"

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has promised that new steps will be taken to achieve the "spiritual independence" of Ukraine.

Source: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his evening address

Quote: "In recent days, we have taken some steps to guarantee the spiritual independence of our people. I see that people support these steps, and they support them decisively. And that's not all. There will be more steps. Ukraine will never stop halfway again."

Background:

In recent weeks, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has conducted searches of institutions of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) in Kyiv and many oblasts. The searches are related to the propaganda of the so-called "Russian world" at UOC-MP churches. Several priests have been notified that they are under suspicion.

Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) has instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to propose that the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) institute a ban on the UOC-MP, and has also initiated a review of the legality of the UOC-MP’s presence at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (the Monastery of the Caves).

On 1 December, President Zelenskyy put into effect personal sanctions against representatives of religious organisations affiliated with centres of influence in the Russian Federation. Ukrainska Pravda sources in the president's team later reported that the NSDC had sanctioned UOC-MP clergy, in particular Pavlo (Lebeda), the superior of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and Vadym Novinskyi, a former member of the Ukrainian Parliament.

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy has explained why the UOC-MP has been banned: religious organisations may not violate the rights and freedoms of citizens, or pose a threat to life, health and security, and the UOC-MP is violating these obligations by cooperating with the aggressor country.

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