KYIV, (Ukraine): Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday voted to ban the Russia-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as Kyiv cuts religious, social and institutional ties with bodies it considers aligned with Moscow.

Kyiv has been trying to curb spiritual links with Russia for years — a process that was accelerated by Moscow’s 2022 invasion, which the powerful Russian Orthodox Church endorsed.

A majority of MPs approved the bill outlawing religious organisations linked with Russia, including the Russia-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which is linked to the Moscow patriarchate.

The bill needs to be signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky to come into force and will take years to implement, but still caused dismay among followers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

In Kyiv, believers were praying outside the Russian-affiliated part of the historic Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, a normal scene since the section was closed to the public last year.

“There’s no politics here. We just come and pray for our children and our loved ones... I’ve never seen any KGB agents,” said 56-year-old Svetlana, who declined to give her name due to the sensitivity of the question.

In a lilac dress and matching headscarf, Svetlana said she had been baptised and married in the church and worried about its potential full closure.