Kirovohrad Regional Council calls on Verkhovna Rada to ban UOC

Kirovohrad Regional Council deputies vote for an appeal to the Verkhovna Rada to ban UOC. Photo: suspilne.media

On 21 December 2022, the Kirovohrad Regional Council at the second attempt decided to ask the Verkhovna Rada to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, reports suspilne.media.

The draft decision was proposed by two deputies – Maryna Osypova from Oleh Lyashko's “Radical Party” and Oleksandr Horbunov from the “People's Front” party, who is a follower of Filaret Denysenko.

Out of 39 people’s deputies present at the meeting, 33 supported the appeal. 6 deputies who had previously belonged to the OPZZh party did not vote.

Oleksandr Horbunov reminded the present that on December 1, 2022, the National Security and Defence Council adopted a decision signed by the President that "there must be one Orthodox Church in Ukraine and one Tomos".

Maryna Osypova accused the UOC of an anti-state stance. "Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the leadership of the UOC has refused to speak publicly on topics related to the war," the people's representative noted.

She said that she was happy with the result of the vote and added that several regional councils had already sent similar appeals to the Verkhovna Rada and the President of Ukraine. Osypova expressed hope that the Ukrainian government would not delay in banning the UOC.

As reported, the Kropyvnytskyi City Council called on the authorities to ban the UOC.

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