The Ukrainian Orthodox Church may be barred from operating within Ukraine’s borders.

With strong ties to the Russian Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church may not be allowed to operate inside Ukraine’s borders if a bill approved by the country’s parliament is implemented.

The Law 8371 would grant the Ukrainian government the authority to investigate any ties between Ukrainian religious organisations and the Russian Federation and to outlaw those whose leaders are located outside of the country. After passing by a vote of 267 to 15, with two votes against, the draft law still needs to go through a second vote so that it can be changed. After that, it would go to President Volodymyr Zelensky for his signature before being signed into law.

Russian Orthodox priests have been accused of espionage and other political interest-aggrandizing activities since the full-scale conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out. In speeches and public appearances, Moscow’s Patriarch Kirill, a close ally of the Putin administration, has offered theological justification for the fighting. Following Russia’s backing of separatist rebels in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region and its annexation of Crimea in 2014, ties between the Russian church and Ukrainian Orthodox Christians soured nearly ten years ago.

In December 2022, a law highlighting the church’s Russian affiliation was officially changed to its registered name by the Ukrainian constitutional court. As of right now, The Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Moscow Patriarchate is its official name. Simultaneously, Zelensky authorised the parliament and security services of Ukraine to look into the UOC’s connections to Russia and sanctioned a number of its prominent members.