Volodymyr Zelensky banned the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree approving a decision of the National Security and Defense Council in Kyiv to ban the activities of religious organisations affiliated with centres of influence on the territory of Ukraine from Russia, reports the publication Korrespondent.net.
Control over the implementation of measures in this regard was assigned to the Secretary of the Security and National Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksi Danilov.
"We will give our state full independence - especially spiritual. We will never allow anyone to build an empire inside the Ukrainian soul," said the President of Ukraine.
TRM.MD recalls that on Thursday a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council was held in Kyiv, during which there was numerous evidence of the links between certain religious circles in Ukraine and Russia. Subsequently, the Security and Defense Council asked the Cabinet of Ministers in Kyiv to propose to the Verkhovna Rada to ban the activities of religious organisations affiliated with centres of influence in Russia.
The State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience was tasked with conducting an examination of the status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with regard to church-canonical ties with the Moscow Patriarchate.
The Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police have also been instructed to step up checks on churches subordinate to Moscow to counter subversive activities of Russian special services in the Ukrainian religious environment.
