Volodymyr Zelensky has approved legislation prohibiting any religious group accused of having connections to Russia, which threatens to essentially shut down Ukraine's Orthodox Church (UOC), the country's largest faith-based institution.

This comes after MPs in Kiev on Tuesday approved a bill that outlaws religious organizations connected to Russia, including the UOC, which is alleged to be affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, also known as the Moscow Patriarchate.

In a statement published on Telegram, Russian Orthodox Church spokesman Vladimir Legoida called the vote "an unlawful act" and "the grossest violation of the basic principles of freedom of conscience and human rights."

The legislation was introduced by the Ukrainian parliament earlier this week and is anticipated to go into effect in 30 days. After that, all activities of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and its related religious groups will be prohibited.

The UOC will have nine months to cut connections with the ROC, despite the Ukrainian church declaring complete autonomy from the Moscow Patriarchate in 2022, following the onset of the war. 

After signing the law on Saturday,  Zelensky issued a video speech claiming, "Ukrainian Orthodoxy is today taking a step towards liberation from Moscow's devils."

Moscow has criticized Ukraine's attack on religious groups, and the Holy Synod of the ROC published a statement on Thursday equating the new legislation to Soviet-style repression and previous past persecutions of Christians.

"The purpose of this law is to liquidate [the UOC] and all its communities and to forcibly transfer them to other religious organizations," the Synod stated. It added that "hundreds of monasteries, thousands of communities, and millions of Orthodox believers in Ukraine will find themselves outlawed and will lose their property and place of prayer."

The Synod indicated that it will protest Kiev's actions to international human rights groups, urging them to respond swiftly and objectively to the "flagrant persecution of believers in Ukraine."

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called the move "satanism" and a move to "outdo the atheism of the Soviet period." In a harsh critique, Medvedev stated that while the Soviet Union, despite its atheist stance, did not ban religions, the current Ukrainian authorities, which he dubbed "neo-Nazi', appeared to be undertaking a more extreme approach.

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"This vile story was started, as we know, by Poroshenko," Medvedev declared.

He accused Ukrainian officials of launching a "vile story" against the UOC, a campaign he attributes to former President Petro Poroshenko. "In order to please his own ambitions and to be elected president of Ukraine, he agreed with the West on a split in Orthodoxy and the creation of the heretical PCU," Medvedev explained.

Zelensky exacerbated persecution of Orthodox Christians

Medvedev described the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) as a failed initiative and criticized Poroshenko's successors. He labeled current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a "drug-addicted creature" lacking religious identity, who has exacerbated the persecution of Orthodox Christians.

"This is where the defeat of Ukrainian Orthodoxy and persecution of Christians for their faith began," he said, referring to the Ukrainian parliament’s recent decision stemming from the Poroshenko era.

In his statement, Medvedev accused Zelensky and his government of engaging in what he called "full-fledged Satanism."

He further asserted that the West supports this crackdown to damage Russia.

"The cocaine creature and his ghouls" are supported by the "civilized West" to inflict harm on Russia and its citizens, Medvedev claimed.

Medvedev prophesied severe consequences for Ukraine, likening its fate to that of Sodom and Gomorrah from the Old Testament.

"The country will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah, and the demons will inevitably fall," he warned.

He cited a biblical passage, "Then Jesus struck them and killed them and hanged them on five trees; and they hung on the trees until evening" (Joshua 10:26), to underscore his prediction of imminent retribution.

Medvedev concluded by expressing his belief that "the True Orthodox Church in the former Ukrainian lands will shine in its former splendor" once the current trials are over.