Russian representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya, speaking at a meeting of the organization's Security Council, said that the Kyiv authorities, by their actions against religious organizations, in fact, introduced a ban on freedom of religion, TASS reports.

“The mockingly worded decision on ‘the impossibility of activities in Ukraine of religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence in the Russian Federation’, in fact, means a ban on freedom of religion — the key right of a democratic state, which the Kyiv authorities so want to appear to be,” he said.

Nebenzya also pointed out that the policy of the Kyiv regime leaves no doubt about "its criminal misanthropic nature." The Ukrainian leadership has moved to combat dissent in the religious sphere as well, the diplomat said.

Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) had decided on measures against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).