“Miriane” to Rivne Regional Council head: UOC ban is a collaborator’s act

The Rivne branch of the NGO "Miriane" (“Laity”) submitted an official request to the Rivne Regional Council because of an article on the Horyn.info resource calling to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the region, reports the organization's press service on its Telegram channel.

On 6 May 2022, an active supporter of the OCU and chairman of the Rivne Regional Council, Serhiy Kondrachuk, submitted an appeal to the regional council to ban the activities of the UOC. Information about this was published on the regional website under the heading "The existence of the Church of Moscow in Ukraine is unacceptable: the session of the Rivne Regional Council will consider an appeal to ban the activities of the MP”. Presumably, the regional council will consider Kondrachuk's appeal on 20 May.

"Miriane" warned Kondrachuk against violating the legislation in force. They also demanded that issues related to the banning of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church not be brought before the council because it leads to incitement of hatred and discord, undermines the authority of the authorities, demoralizes Ukrainian soldiers and gives an additional trump card to the enemies of Ukraine. Also, representatives of the public union reminded Kondrachuk of the criminal responsibility under Article 161 Part 2 of the Criminal Code – "Incitement of religious hatred and enmity carried out by an official".

"We consider such statements and further actions that they provoke to be collaborative, aiding the aggressor, aimed at demoralizing the Ukrainian troops and contributing to inciting discord in our Rivne region," the “Miriane” union said in their appeal.

The public organization also appealed to the head of the Rivne Regional State Administration, Vitaliy Koval, demanding that any actions aimed at inciting religious hatred and splitting Ukrainian society in the Rivne region be banned.

We remind you that the long-time fighter with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Serhiy Kondrachuk led seizures of UOC churches after the Tomos was granted to the OCU.

As reported, the NGO “Miriane” told local officials that attempts to ban the UOC incite inter-faith discord.  

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