We will remind you that recently, DESS expert and OCU lobbyist Yuriy Chornomorets spoke about how long the litigation would take if the Ukrainian Orthodox Church refused to comply with the requirements of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience. The religious scholar claims that if the UOC refuses to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church, the courts will take several months, after which the Church will be deprived of its registration and real estate.
The UOC is still being used for intelligence activities, - DESS expert
Andriy Smirnov, a lobbyist for the OCU and freelance expert at the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), claims that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is being used by Russia for “agent activities.” That is why, according to Smirnov, the Church must be banned by court order. He said this in a comment to the publication Ukrainska Pravda.
According to Smirnov, if the DESS wins the court case, the UOC will lose its legal status and corresponding privileges, but it will not disappear. However, 154 religious organizations affiliated with the Kyiv Metropolis will lose the right to use property if it is state or municipal property.
“The UOC provides a favorable environment for the development of agent networks. All pro-Russian and Russian parties and public organizations are banned in Ukraine. But you can’t just ban a church, so it continues to be used for agent activities,” – Smirnov believes.
Read also
