Day: October 19, 2023

The UOC has historic links with Moscow, but says it is no longer aligned with the Russian Orthodox Church. It denies the charges leveled at it by Kyiv and said the draft law would be unconstitutional.

Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a member of parliament, said on the Telegram messaging app that deputies had voted to support the bill in its first reading. It has to be backed in a second reading and approved by the president to go in to force.

The law would ban the activities of religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence “in a state that carries out armed aggression against Ukraine,” and such activities could be terminated by a court of law.

Another lawmaker, Iryna Herashchenko, said the vote was a step toward removing “Moscow priests from the Ukrainian land.”

The head of Russia’s Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, appealed to Orthodox and other churches to do what they could to stop Ukraine’s action before the bill became law.

“I ask you to take all measures to prevent the continuation of the mass infringements of religious rights of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” Kirill said in the appeal, which appeared on a church website. It was also addressed to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and other figures.

The UOC said the draft law, one of several similar bills registered in parliament, did not comply with the European Convention on Human Rights or Ukraine’s constitution.

Describing itself as an “independent and separate church,” the UOC accused Kyiv of trying to pass it off as affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church and portraying its Ukrainian clergymen and believers as “agents of the Russian Federation.”

An independent Orthodox church was founded in Ukraine soon after independence from Soviet rule and has long competed for adherents with the Russia-linked church. It only received formal recognition from the world Orthodox hierarchy in 2018.

Ukrainian authorities and many people in Ukraine had for years seen the UOC as loyal to Moscow and cracked down on the church after Russia’s February 2022 invasion. Tensions have surfaced across the country.

A government commission has ruled the UOC is still canonically linked to Russia despite the church declaring that it cut ties with the Russian Orthodox Church in May 2022.

UOC Metropolitan Pavlo has been notified he is suspected of inciting inter-religious hatred and distributing materials justifying Russian aggression. He has denied the accusations.

Ukraine’s Security Service said Thursday 68 criminal cases, including accusations of treason, had been initiated against UOC representatives since Russia’s invasion.

Analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said a ban on the UOC could be challenged in Ukraine and at the European Court of Human Rights. Fesenko suggested the church could register as a new entity with “no reference whatsoever to canonical ties” with Russia.  

Israel’s highly touted Iron Dome missile defense system, designed to intercept and neutralize incoming rockets and missiles, faced a major setback during the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. This failure was witnessed as a barrage of rocket attacks targeted southern Israel.

The Iron Dome, which has been a centerpiece of Israeli defense strategy and a source of boasting for defense marketing, proved vulnerable in the face of relentless attacks. The system’s inability to intercept all incoming threats in a critical moment highlighted a significant gap in Israel’s security infrastructure.

The failure of Israel’s Iron Dome is also a major setback to Israel’s defense industry for which Israel has been selling weapons in the world.

The Israel-Palestine conflict, marked by intense violence and international scrutiny, has exposed numerous atrocities and allegations of war crimes. The Iron Dome’s failure added another layer to the ongoing crisis, raising questions about its effectiveness.

The Iron Dome has been hailed as a state-of-the-art missile defense system, equipped with radar and interceptors designed to protect Israeli civilians from rocket attacks. However, the system’s performance fell short as it struggled to intercept incoming rockets. Videos circulating on social media showed rockets breaching the defenses, leading to panic and concern among Israeli citizens.

The failure of the Iron Dome was not only a blow to Israel’s national security but also a point of contention in the global discourse surrounding the Israel-Palestine conflict. Critics argue that Israel’s extensive investment in the system and its marketing as a dependable defense solution has raised false expectations. Many claim that the system’s limitations were exposed during this critical moment.

The failure of the Iron Dome is likely to have political and strategic implications in the ongoing conflict and may impact Israel’s defense strategy moving forward. It has also drawn renewed international attention to the suffering of civilians in the region, as the conflict continues to escalate.

As the Israel-Palestine conflict rages on, the Iron Dome’s vulnerability serves as a stark reminder of the complex and fragile nature of security in the region, where both Israeli and Palestinian civilians remain caught in the crossfire.

The incident underscores the need for a comprehensive and sustainable solution to the ongoing crisis, as both sides continue to grapple with the devastating consequences of violence and conflict.