A lobbyist of the OCU and a member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine from the European Solidarity party, Mykola Knyazhytskyy, has said that it is necessary to pass a law banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as soon as possible. He wrote about this in his author’s column on the website “Espresso”.

“Our law 8221 on banning the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine registered in the Verkhovna Rada back in November 2022. But the authorities and even some of the scholars thought that ‘it can’t be done this way’. The authorities prepared their toothless draft 8371, where the Russian Orthodox Church was not even mentioned! We in the Committee on Humanitarian Policy finalized it for the second reading and insist on bringing it to the hall”, – the MP wrote.

Knyazhytskyy believes that the adoption of this law will force the UOC to “break ties” with the ROC. Otherwise, the Church will be deprived of rights to real estate in Ukraine.

“The essence of the law is simple – the activities of the ROC in Ukraine must be terminated, as well as the activities of structures associated with it. The UOC-MP must break with Gundyaev and his gang in cassocks. Or stop using any state and communal property. […] I started talking about it out loud and filed the relevant law in 2022! It is now 2024. In war, he who can anticipate the enemy’s actions and prepares faster wins. We are catastrophically late!!!”, – summarized Knyazhytsky.

It should be noted that earlier we reported that Mykola Knyazhytskyy expressed fears that the Verkhovna Rada may not vote in the second reading for the bill № 8371, aimed at banning the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.