MOSCOW, November 19. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky says that the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s (UOC) time has come to an end, according to Verkhovna Rada member Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

Zheleznyak shared this statement on his Telegram channel, noting that Zelensky made the remark while presenting his so-called resilience plan to the parliament.

The lawmaker did not provide further details on the matter. According to Zheleznyak, Zelensky delivered his speech behind closed doors, with no broadcasting. Mobile communications and the Internet were also disabled within the Rada building during the address. Following the speech, some MPs began posting its key points. Later, a broadcast of the parliament speech was posted on Zelensky's Facebook page (owned by Meta Corporation, recognized as extremist in Russia), presented as a live stream.

Reprisals against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church started in Ukraine following a coup in 2014, under then-President Pyotr Poroshenko. The so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine 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, schismatics from that church have been forcibly seizing UOC churches and attacking priests. On August 24, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signed into law a bill that allows banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The bill had cleared the legislature shortly before.