The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) analyzes the provision of the law on the de facto prohibition of the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which the Verkhovna Rada adopted the day before. This was announced on Wednesday, August 21, by the official representative of the organization, Elizabeth Trossel.

«We are aware of the adoption of this law by the Ukrainian parliament and are in the process of receiving the law and analyzing its provisions,» she shared with RIA Novosti.

According to the representative of the organization, OHCHR will monitor the situation with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the country and inform about it.

The day before, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in final reading a law allowing to ban the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The law was supported by 265 deputies, it will enter into force 30 days after publication.

On August 20, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Gennady Askaldovich said that Moscow condemns the ban of the canonical UOC and calls on human rights organizations to unite against the arbitrariness of the Ukrainian authorities. On August 21, the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, Tatyana Moskalkova, called the adopted law a gross violation of the Constitution of Ukraine, as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She noted that members of the Verkhovna Rada continue to trample on the fundamental rights of citizens and freedom of conscience.

Earlier, on August 17, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations supported a bill banning the canonical UOC. The members of the All-Ukrainian Council expressed support for the course of President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky (whose official powers expired on May 20) for spiritual independence, protection of the constitutional order, public safety, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

In 2022, the Ukrainian authorities intensified actions against the UOC. They conducted searches at bishops and priests, in churches and monasteries, including the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, in order to find a trace of «anti-Ukrainian activity.» In December 2022, the SBU initiated 50 criminal cases against priests of the UOC.