At an extraordinary session, the Khmelnytskyy regional council decided to ban the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) in the region,
The press service of the regional council said that the decision also suggested that the President of Ukraine should consider the draft law "On ensuring the strengthening of national security in the field of freedom of conscience and activities of religious organisations" as urgent for its extraordinary consideration by parliament.
In addition, it was recommended that local governments in Khmelnytskyy Region take measures to conduct an inventory of land plots used by the UOC-MP with the subsequent termination of the right to use such land plots by adopting appropriate decisions.
By a majority vote, the councillors adopted an appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers to terminate lease agreements with religious organisations that do not comply with the laws of Ukraine.
Earlier, the Khmelnytskyy city council terminated the right of the UOC-MP to use the land on the territory of the Holy Protection Cathedral. Six more plots of land will be returned to the religious communities, provided that they join the OCU.
On 2 April, in Khmelnytskyy, priests of the UOC-MP beat a serviceman in a church. In protest, representatives of the community gathered outside the church where the incident took place and decided to join the OCU. After that, Metropolitan Antoniy (Fialko) of Khmelnytskyy and Starokostyantyniv of the UOC-MP handed over the keys to the cathedral, and the representatives of the UOC-MP left the church.