The head of the legal department of the UOC-KP, Neonila Tkachenko, commented on the call of the head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko, to avoid attending services in quarantine. She recalled that the Constitutional Court of Ukraine adopted a decision on August 28, 2020, in which he noted that any restrictions on the rights and freedoms of citizens of Ukraine might be established exclusively by the laws of Ukraine.

“Not by decrees of the Cabinet of Ministers, not by decisions of ministers, or by any services, but exclusively by the laws of Ukraine. There is no law of Ukraine prohibiting or restricting the stay of people in places of worship, as of April 27, 2021.

Therefore, all citizens of Ukraine who are Christians who want to realize their rights and freedoms on this day, which is a common prayer in a separate place, in a religious building, have the right to do so. And the state, represented by the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Health and the rest of the ministers, who have been appointed to positions in order for us to feel safe, must guarantee us this right,” the lawyer explained.

“If someone calls for a holiday not to go to church, because it’s scary, you can die from it, this person is professionally unfit and must resign. They must guarantee our safety, and they urge us not to pray, celebrate and not live at all,” Tkachenko stated.