On August 24, 2023, more than 125 signatures of people’s deputies were collected for bills requiring a ban on the UOC. They sent an appeal in which they call for voting on bills that should ban the activities of churches affiliated with Russia in Ukraine, they sent to Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk. This is reported by chesno.org.

“This issue has been on the agenda for a long time and is a requirement of the Ukrainian society, since these churches have long been systematically used by the Russian Federation as an instrument of anti-Ukrainian propaganda and a hybrid weapon in the war against Ukraine, as evidenced by the numerous facts of crimes against Ukrainians and the facts of collaboration of representatives of such churches with the aggressor country, including its intelligence and military agencies,” the deputies said.

According to the deputies, this ban of the UOC “complies with the norms of international law in the field of freedom of conscience, the activities of religious organizations and the international obligations of Ukraine.”