MOSCOW, August 22. /TASS/. International human rights organizations should immediately and objectively react to the "oppression" of believers in Ukraine, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) said in a statement following the adoption of a bill aimed at liquidating the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) by the Verkhovna Rada.

"We appeal to international human rights organizations to give an immediate and unbiased response to the flagrant oppression of the faithful in Ukraine," the statement on the ROC website reads.

Members of the Synod also asked Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to send appropriate appeals to the presidents of local Orthodox churches, heads of other Christian churches and inter-Christian communities, as well as heads and representatives of international organizations.

The statement says that on August 20, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the second reading the bill "On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Activity of Religious Organizations," which allows to ban the activity of any religious communities in Ukraine if they are "affiliated" with any religious organizations in Russia. "For the court to give such a ruling, conclusions of a 'religious expertise' will suffice, which amid the ongoing witch hunt may and will be falsified," the statement says.

The hierarchs recalled that throughout 2014-2023, the Synod repeatedly noted the pressure on the canonical Church in Ukraine, "which was undoubtedly part of the government anti-religious policy."

"The adoption of the law today indicates powerlessness of the regime that throughout its political existence has been systematically, step by step trying to weaken, split and destroy the Ukrainian Orthodox Church," the statement reads.

Earlier, the ROC leader repeatedly addressed the UN organizations, the OSCE and the Council of Europe, as well as the leaders of the world's religious communities, testifying about the persecution of believers in Ukraine.

Path to ban the UOC

The course to ban the UOC was started in Ukraine by former President Pyotr Poroshenko. Under him, the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) was created in December 2018 from two schismatic organizations with the support of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Since then, with the encouragement of the authorities, dissenters from the OCU have been forcibly seizing UOC churches and attacking priests. Local authorities deprive the canonical church of the right to lease land under the temples, special services bring charges of treason and other crimes against the UOC priests and impose sanctions. According to the Ukrainian Security Service, as of August 2024, the authorities have opened more than 100 criminal cases against UOC priests. Courts have handed down sentences against 26 of them.

According to the State Service for Ethno-Politics and Freedom of Conscience of Ukraine, at least 5-6 million people in the country remain parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.