Zelensky said the investigation would examine whether the Moscow branch of the church was entitled to operate at one of Ukraine’s most sacred sites, the Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv..
The Russian Orthodox Church strongly supported the war in Ukraine nine months ago.
“We must create conditions so that no parties dependent on the aggressor country (Russia) can manipulate Ukrainians and weaken Ukraine from within,” Zelensky said in a video speech.“.
In Ukraine, the Moscow-linked church officially cut ties with the Russian Orthodox Church last May, but many Ukrainians still do not trust it, accusing it of secret cooperation with Russia..
The discussion by the senior security officials underscored the importance with which Zelensky and other leaders still view the influence of the Moscow-linked church among ordinary Ukrainians..
Orthodox Christians make up the majority of Ukraine’s 43 million people, and competition has been fierce since the collapse of Soviet rule between the Moscow-linked Church and the Autonomous Church of Ukraine declared shortly after independence..
Zelensky said the government would submit a bill to parliament that would ban religious groups “linked to centers of influence in Russia.”“.
He added that measures would be taken to protect against “disruptive activity of the Russian special services in the Ukrainian religious environment,” and church property, including its use of the Pechersk Lavra complex, would also be examined..
Last week, the Ukrainian Security Service said it had searched 350 buildings belonging to the Russia-linked church and had searched 850 people. He stated that he had found “suspicious” Russian citizens, large sums of cash and pro-Russian literary works in a raid on the Bereshk Lavra compound that was denounced by Russia..
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