On August 20, VR MPs are to vote on Bill 8371 effectively banning the UOC

Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Photo: wikipedia.org

During the plenary session, a document will be introduced that has been revised and renamed. Now, Bill 8371 is titled "On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Religious Organizations". Officially, deputies say it bans the activities of religious organizations associated with Russia. Unofficially, it is believed to target the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The session is scheduled to start at 11 a.m., with the bill expected to be voted on immediately, followed by speeches from deputies.

Mykyta Poturaev, a deputy from the "Servant of the People" party and head of the Verkhovna Rada's Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, stated that there are enough votes in Parliament to pass this law.

"Today, I assess the chances of its support in the chamber higher than when we were forced to resort to a protest action at the podium (on July 23 – Ed.). We estimated that we had 240 votes at that time, optimistically – maybe 250. Now I think that with the support of the President, the head of the Presidential Office, and the presidium led by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, we should definitely have more votes," Poturaev said in a comment to Ukrinform.

MP Iryna Herashchenko stated that this plenary week would be turbulent. "There is every chance to finally ban the FSB's branch in cassocks in Ukraine; this will be one of the most important votes of this parliamentary session," she wrote.

Deputies who said they intended to vote against Bill 8371 also announced that the document would be adopted in the second reading.

"Today, Parliament will commit an act of self-destruction by passing the law banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Bolshevism has prevailed in the minds of most Verkhovna Rada deputies. I can no longer call them representatives of the people. For they do not understand the people. They do not know what they are doing or what to do next. They live on inertia, hoping that somehow the situation will improve," wrote MP Yevhen Shevchenko.

"Today is an important day for us, the Orthodox. Another bill that once again tries to ban the church and the faith of more than 6 million people!

I have no hatred or anger toward what is happening. We are on a path destined for us, and we must walk it with dignity – with faith and prayer!" wrote deputy Artem Dmytruk.

As reported by the UOJ, on August 15, Zelensky urged the Rada to convene and resolve the issue of "spiritual independence".

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