Unholy Matters

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Lawmakers in Ukraine passed a law on Tuesday that could open the door to a ban on a Russia-affiliated minority Orthodox church, in an effort that Kyiv says aims to uphold the country’s “spiritual independence,” Reuters reported.

The move would target the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), one of two Orthodox entities in Ukraine, where a majority of the population follow the Orthodox Christian faith.

The bill, approved by an overwhelming majority in the legislature on Tuesday, in effect banned the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) on Ukrainian soil. ROC leaders have spoken out openly in support of Russia’s war on its neighbor.

The law will authorize a government commission to make a list of organizations “affiliated” with the ROC, potentially including the UOC.

A court will then decide whether to shutter the listed organizations.

The UOC is a minority church in Ukraine, which Kyiv has accused of spreading Russian propaganda and hosting spies within its buildings. However, the church has claimed it had cut ties with the ROC.

Nonetheless, the government has launched criminal proceedings against the UOC and sent at least one of its clerics to Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the law would prevent “manipulation of the Ukrainian Church from Moscow.”

The move comes as Russia tries to repel an invasion of its territory by Ukrainian troops. This week, it announced it has deployed a regiment of its so-called “space troops” in response to the offensive in the Kursk region near the Ukrainian border, Newsweek reported.

Personnel from the Russian Aerospace Forces were sent to the region, where Ukraine has seized almost 450 square miles of Russian territory – more than the area Russia has taken in Ukraine since the beginning of the year.

Still, Russia also made gains in Eastern Ukraine this week, forcing authorities to order the evacuation of Pokrovsk, a key city in the disputed Donbas region, the BBC reported.