Kiev to ban Russia-linked religious organizations - Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the National Security and Defense Council ordered the government to come up with a legislative proposal to the country's parliament to ban "religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence in the Russian Federation."
"The State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience was commissioned to ensure the religious examination of the Management Statute of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for the presence of a church-canonical connection with the Moscow Patriarchate and, if necessary, to take measures provided for by law," Zelensky added during his usual late-night speech.
Ukrainian authorities have recently raided several religious objects belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, searching for "pro-Russian literature" and other materials. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church declared its independence from the Russian Orthodox Church in May 2022.