Ukrainians in favour of law banning religious organisations linked to Russian Orthodox Church

The vast majority of Ukrainians support the recently adopted law banning the activities of religious organisations affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Source: a survey by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted from 20 September to 3 October

Quote from sociologists: "The vast majority of Ukrainians –  80% – support the approval of this law. Sixteen per cent do not support it, and another 4% are undecided."

The Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) approved a law, which, if there is available evidence, allows for the activities of religious organisations connected to and dependent on Russia after a certain time to be banned. Do you support the approval of this Law or not?

Infographic: KIIS

Details: KIIS notes that in almost all oblasts, most Ukrainians support the law (from 71% in the east to 83% in the west). 

Attitude to the law on the Prohibition of Certain Religious Organisations across regions

Infographic: KIIS

The study used telephone interviews with a random sample of mobile numbers to interview 1,001 respondents aged 18 and older living on the territory controlled by the Ukrainian government. The sample did not include residents of territories temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities (although some of the respondents are IDPs who relocated from Russian-occupied territory), nor was the survey performed with persons who fled the country after 24 February 2022.

Formally, under normal circumstances, the statistical error of such a sample did not exceed 2.9% for indicators close to 50%, 2.5% for indicators close to 25%, 1.7% for indicators close to 10%, and 1.3% for indicators close to 5%.

In times of war, a certain systematic deviation is added in addition to the specified formal error. However, sociologists are convinced that the results obtained retain high representativeness and allow for a fairly reliable analysis of public sentiment.

Background

• The government registered draft law No. 8371 in the Verkhovna Rada on January 2023 on the ban on religious organisations in Ukraine, which could result in a ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP)
• On 20 August 2024, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in its entirety a bill banning the activities of religious organisations associated with Russia in Ukraine, which could make it impossible for the UOC-MP to operate.
• The law came into force on 23 September 2024

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