Ukrainian authorities will consider a petition against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s (UOC) ban in the country as it has collected the necessary 25,000 signatures for consideration by the authorities. Reported by Liga.net.
In the text of the petition, parishioners called for solving the problem of churches in Ukraine through dialogue and protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens, not by banning the entire UOC. In response to the petition, Denys Shmygal, head of the Ukrainian government, instructed the State Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience Service to resolve the issues raised in the petition and inform the authors of the appeal and the government about the results of the petition. thought.
April 1, Ukraine Security Service (SBU) reported On the results of “counterintelligence activities” in the church environment for 2022. As a result of the measures, 61 criminal cases were opened against 61 clergy.
Also on April 1, the Kyiv court appointed Metropolitan Pavel (Lebed), deputy of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, preventive measure in the form of house arrest for two months and a ban on appealing to believers.
In December 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree imposing sanctions on representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).