INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ukrainian lawmakers on Tuesday voted to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as Kyiv continues to sever religious, social and institutional
process greatly accelerated by Moscow's 2022 invasion, which was endorsed by the influential Russian Orthodox Church.On Tuesday, 265
lawmakers in Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada voted to pass legislation outlawing religious organizations with suspected ties to Russia, including
the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.The bill needed 226 votes to pass in the 450-seat parliament
Forty-nine seats are vacant due to Russia's occupation of eastern Ukrainian territories and the departure or removal of
lawmakers.Tuesday's vote in the Ukrainian parliament was welcomed by President Volodymyr Zelensky's office."There will be no Moscow
Church in Ukraine," Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said on Telegram
The bill now needs Zelensky's signature for it to become law.First Deputy Chairwoman of the Verkhovna Rada, Iryna Herashchenko, called the
vote "historic" and a "matter of national security."The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which officially broke ties with the Russian Orthodox
Church in 2022, has been accused by some lawmakers of maintaining covert connections with Russian clergy despite the ongoing war.In 2019,
from the Moscow Patriarchate
Ukraine.Despite the schism, many parishes and worshippers continued to follow the church with suspected links to Moscow.Russian Foreign
Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the Verkhovna Rada's vote on Tuesday, accusing Ukraine of trying to "destroy true
