Stay informed with free updates
Simply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.
The Ukrainian parliament has approved legislation banning religious organisations with ties to Russia, paving the way for Kyiv to end the activities of the Moscow-linked orthodox church on its soil.
The Verkhovna Rada approved the law on Tuesday in its second and final reading, with 265 lawmakers voting in its favour and 29 against, according to MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
Ukrainian officials have long argued that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate operates as an arm of the Russian Orthodox Church to undermine Ukraine and that it is complicit in Russia’s full-scale war.
In particular, Ukrainian officials accuse the UOC-MP of working closely with Russia’s powerful security service, the FSB.
“The Russian Orthodox Church has nothing to do with faith — it is a tool of the special services,” Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential…
