Hatred of the Ukrainian president has risen to a new level.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that he will strengthen Ukraine's spiritual independence. According to Euractiv

this could effectively mean banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church loyal to Moscow.

The majority of Ukrainians are Orthodox, Eastern Christians, but there are two parallel churches in the country, the Old Orthodox, who are loyal to the Moscow Patriarch, and the Independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, recognized as a whole by the Orthodox Church in 2019. The two organizations compete with each other, of course on a political and international level as well.

Since the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation and then the war, the Moscow-loyal church in Ukraine has crumbled, but it is still present and influential in the country. From Zelensky's words now, it can be concluded that this church will be banned in some form.

Criminal cases and treason trials have already been initiated against the representatives of the Church Loyal to Moscow in the recent period.

We must deprive Moscow of the last opportunities to limit Ukrainian independence," declared the president, who said that "100 percent effective decisions will be needed, and we will ensure this."

Mandiner.hu

Cover photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi
Source: MTI/EPA/Serhiy Dolzhenko