In August 2024, the Verkhovna Rada approved a draft law on amendments to certain laws of Ukraine regarding the activities of religious organisations in Ukraine, which allows for the banning of organisations with ties to Russia under certain conditions.
The vast majority of Ukrainians - 80% - support the adoption of this law. Only 16% do not support it, and another 4% have not decided on their opinion. These are the results of a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
Although support for the law is slightly higher in the western regions and in the central ones, the vast majority of Ukrainians in virtually all regions support the adopted law (from 71% in the eastern regions to 83% in the western ones).
Also, according to the survey, the majority of Ukrainians - 70% - consider themselves Orthodox. Among them, the largest number - 56% of all respondents - identify themselves as belonging to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which is 81% of all Orthodox residents of Ukraine. Another 7% identify themselves with the Orthodox Church "without specification" and 6% with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
In addition, the majority of Ukrainians - 61% - support the idea that there should be only one Orthodox Church in Ukraine. The number of those who do not support this idea is 16%, and another 20% are indifferent to this issue.
When asked which of the hierarchs is best suited to the position of head of the unified Orthodox Church, Epiphanius retains a clear lead - 50% of all respondents would like to see him as head of the unified Orthodox Church (76% of those who have decided on their opinion). This is followed by such options as another hierarch from Ukraine (8% of all respondents and 12% of those who have decided), Onufriy (6% and 9%, respectively) and another hierarch from outside Ukraine (2% and 3%). One third of respondents said they had no opinion or were indifferent.