Ukraine adopts law to ban Russian-linked Orthodox Church

The Monastery of the Caves, also known as Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of the holiest sites of Eastern Orthodox Christians, in Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, March 23, 2023.

Ukraine's parliament voted Tuesday to ban the Russian-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), a move Kiev says strengthens its independence as the country severs ties with institutions it considers aligned with Moscow.

The majority of Ukrainian lawmakers approved the bill outlawing religious organizations linked with Russia, primarily affecting the Moscow-linked UOC. President Volodymyr Zelensky, who still needs to sign the bill for it to take effect, said the ban would boost Ukraine's "spiritual independence."

"This is a fundamental decision for our spiritual independence," Zelensky stated, adding that he will be talking to representatives of Patriarch Bartholomew, the Istanbul-based rival to Moscow's patriarch, in the coming days.

This legislative action accelerates Kiev's years-long effort to curb spiritual links with Russia, a process intensified by Moscow's 2022 invasion, which the powerful Russian Orthodox Church endorsed. The Russian foreign ministry condemned the decision as a "powerful blow against the whole of Orthodoxy," while the Russian church called it "illegal."

Russian Orthodox Church spokesman Vladimir Legoida denounced the vote as "an unlawful act that is the grossest violation of the basic principles of freedom of conscience and human rights."

The ban may take years to implement, causing concern among UOC followers. Ukraine's SBU security service reported that criminal proceedings have been opened against more than 100 clergy from the Moscow-backed church since the start of the offensive, with 26 sentenced, though specific charges were not...