What Zelenskyy's early December 2022 church measures set out
A look back at the decree and the bill that targeted religious organisations linked to Russia in Ukraine.
What did Ukraine's president do about religious organisations with links to Russia in the days before 5 December 2022? Reports from 2 December 2022 described two connected steps.
On 2 December 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree that banned religious organisations with links to Russia and imposed personal sanctions on their representatives. He also announced that the government would draft a law banning churches affiliated with Russia. He said such a law was necessary to counter Russian government efforts to weaken Ukraine from within.
The same day, as reported at the time, the president submitted a bill to the Verkhovna Rada. The bill would officially ban any activity in Ukraine by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).
Together, the decree and the bill set out the approach on 5 December 2022: sanctions on individuals through presidential action, and a legislative route to prohibit the church's activity.
