FSB in robes and Ukrainian lands: Supreme Court’s decision

They went all the way to the Supreme Court but lost. Now the land and religious buildings are the property of the community.

After Russia attacked Ukraine in 2014, the parliament passed a law regarding the names of religious organizations whose centers are located in the territory of the aggressor country. This happened before the signing of the Tomos in Istanbul, which was supposed to make the Ukrainian church independent from Russia.

All religious communities that had a center of influence in a hostile state (there were more than 11,000 of them) had to make changes to their names and charters and report them directly. Ukrainians had to realize which church they were attending. Moscow priests were given three months to comply with the law; failure to do so resulted in losing their status as religious organizations. This was the basis for the Supreme Court’s decision. The panel was chaired by Judge Ivan Mishchenko, who had been defending the country since the full-scale invasion began, along with judges Inna Berdnik and Vitalii Zuev.