“The law is not about the ban, but about the ban": Yelensky again tried to justify himself for the ban of the UOC

The head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience(SSEPFC), Viktor Yelensky, once again tried to argue the need for the anti-church law No. 3894, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, aimed at banning the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. According to the official, the law does not actually prohibit any religious organization, but he immediately stipulated that it does prohibit it. Yelensky said this in a comment to Hromadske Radio.

“The law does not prohibit the UOC or any other religious organization. It is about banning the Russian Orthodox Church, which, according to the definition of the PACE resolution, is a continuation of Putin’s criminal regime and is a full participant in the war against Ukraine. This church not only blesses but also sanctifies the enemy’s weapons of mass destruction. Therefore, the Russian Orthodox Church is banned in Ukraine, and those religious organizations that are part of it are given every opportunity to leave it,” – Yelensky explained.

It is worth noting that such statements by the head of the SSEPFC, Viktor Yelensky, are at odds with the comments of other religious experts and Ukrainian parliamentarians who indicate that Law 3894 was adopted precisely to ban the UOC. For example, Mykola Kniazhytskyi, a member of the European Solidarity party, confirmed that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed the scandalous anti-church law No. 3894, which was adopted, among other things, to take away churches from the UOC.

In addition, if we follow Viktor Yelensky’s logic, why is Law 3894, which allegedly bans only the ROC, needed at all if the Russian Church has not even been registered in Ukraine? It is unlikely that, trying to conceal the true purpose of this law, the head of the SSEPFC will be able to answer this question.