The ban on the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on the territory of the Khmelnytsky region, for which the deputies of the Khmelnytsky Regional Council voted, is illegal. This was stated in an interview with DW by the chairman of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience Viktor Yelensky. According to him, local authorities cannot ban the Church.

He recalled that the Verkhovna Rada is now considering a government bill on the activities of religious organizations in Ukraine. According to him, according to the document, the activities of religious organizations with centers in the aggressor country will not be allowed in Ukraine, but the final decision should be made by the court.

As Yelensky further explained, in order to understand whether this or that religious structure is connected with centers in the aggressor country, it will be necessary to conduct a religious examination. If the fact of subordination of a religious organization to a center in an aggressor country is established, the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience will apply to this organization with an order to eliminate these ties.

“If the Church eliminates these ties, then all claims against this Church fall away. If not, then the State Service will file a lawsuit in court. This is a fairly democratic procedure, where the last word will belong to the court. We have no other way to stop the activities of a religious organization,” Yelensky said.