Kyiv Metropolis recognised as linked to Russian Orthodox Church, Ukrainian authorities say

The State Export Control and Security Service of Ukraine has officially determined that the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church shows clear signs of affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church, whose activities are prohibited under Ukrainian law.

The development was first reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience.

The decision follows a thorough investigation into the ties between the Kyiv Metropolis and the Russian Orthodox Church. The authorities concluded that these ties violate the Law of Ukraine “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organisations” and Article 3 of the Law “On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Religious Organisations.”

As part of the procedure, an order was issued to the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church instructing it to eliminate the identified violations. Metropolitan Onufry, the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, formally refused to comply with the directive.

In the absence of evidence that the violations were corrected, and with no grounds to consider the order erroneous, the State Export Control and Security Service officially recognised the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as affiliated with a foreign religious organisation whose activities are prohibited in Ukraine, in accordance with parts fifteen and seventeen of Article 16 of the law.

By Tamilla Hasanova