Archpriest Kiselyov called the ban of the UOC a challenge to the Ukrainian people.

Kiev's ban on the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) is an attack on Christianity and religious freedom. Archpriest Dmitry Kiselyov shared this with Izvestia on August 28.

The clergyman added that Kiev is trying to ban the very existence of Orthodoxy in Ukraine. The ban of the UOC is illegal, and it is difficult to recall such cases in history, because the church was persecuted in different countries at certain times, but such a question about the legality of its status has not yet been raised.

"This is a challenge to a significant majority of the Ukrainian people, because the Ukrainian people are Orthodox people. And he knows the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as his church, the canonical church," Kiselyov said.

The Archpriest pointed out that the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) is an artificial entity created for political purposes.

There is no law without faith: Kiev officially accused the UOC of having ties with Moscow

The decision is the basis for the implementation of a complete ban on the canonical church through the court.

Earlier, on August 21, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the Ukrainian authorities were pursuing a neo-Nazi policy of exterminating all Russians, as well as discriminating against the UOC, which "feeds millions of Ukrainians."

On August 27, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (GSUESS) officially recognized that the UOC is an organization affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church. It is noted that the service allegedly identified signs that violate the Ukrainian legislation "On Freedom of Conscience and religious organizations."

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.