MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. Kiev’s adoption of the law that de-facto bans the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate aims to eradicate the true Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine and to replace it with a false, quasi-Orthodox church, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"This is an eradication. The goal here is to eradicate the canonical, true Orthodox Christianity, and to substitute it with a spoof, false Church, which could only be understood in this capacity, to establish a quasi-Orthodox church," the diplomat said in its commentary for the Zvezda TV channel, published on its Telegram channel.

"This is what is should be called, it’s not a schismatic, not a breakaway church, it is a false quasi-church, which utilizes seemingly similar rituals, which seizes monasteries and relics and pretends to use them under Orthodox customs, while actually mocking them. This is why we must speak about the eradication of Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine," she added.

"Honor to those residents of Ukraine of all nationalities, who preserve the true Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine, at a price - including their own life - while fully realizing how high the stakes are," she said.

Previously, the media reported that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed a law, which makes it possible to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The law is supposed to enter into effect in 30 days after it is published.

The bill on the ban for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been prepared under the direct order from Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, and passed by the Verkhovna Rada in the first reading in October, 2023. However, the bill was not presented for the second reading for almost a year over concerns that it will fail to gain enough votes in the parliament and will cause discontent in the West. However, final amendments have been introduced into the text, and the committee on humanitarian and informational policy recommended the parliament to pass it in second and final readings.