DESS doesn’t know how many communities in Ukraine are "affiliated with ROC"
The State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) does not have legal grounds to research the connections of religious communities with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).
DESS could not answer how many communities in Ukraine are "affiliated with the ROC". This is stated in the response from GESS to a relevant inquiry from “Glavkom”.
The document, signed by DESS Deputy Head Voynalovych, says that to determine the ties of communities with the ROC, DESS "must conduct an appropriate study". If, during this study, such connections are found and the community refuses to eliminate them, only then will DESS have the right to recognize that community as affiliated with the ROC.
"The decision to make such a determination is the basis for including the religious organization in the list of religious organizations affiliated with the ROC, which must be approved by an order from DESS and published on its official website," Voynalovych said.
At the same time, he pointed out that "the study regarding the presence of affiliation signs <…> must be conducted in accordance with the procedures established by law (Part 8 of Article 30 of Law No. 987)."
For this, DESS has developed a draft resolution for the Cabinet of Ministers titled "On the Approval of the Procedure for Conducting Research on the Presence of Signs of Affiliation of Religious Organizations with Foreign Religious Organizations Whose Activities Are Prohibited in Ukraine." Only after the Cabinet of Ministers approves this draft, DESS will be able to begin its "research".
Voynalovych stated that until the adoption of Law 3894 (on banning the UOC), DESS had no grounds to keep records of communities "affiliated with the ROC". After the law was passed, GESS also cannot maintain such records, as the relevant studies have not yet begun.
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that, according to Zelensky, the UN is manipulating by claiming that the anti-church law bans the UOC.
