Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada votes for sanctions on Patriarch Kirill

MOSCOW. May 31 (Interfax) - The Verkhovna Rada has proposed that the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) impose sanctions on eight clerics of the Russian Orthodox Church, among them Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia, for ten years, by 292 votes on Tuesday, deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak said on Telegram.

The restrictions also apply to Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, deputy head of the Russian Orthodox Church's External Church Relations Department Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, and Metropolitan Tikhon of Pskov and Porkhov.

The bill's authors said numerous evidence had been collected to prove the illegal activity of Patriarch Kirill, Metropolitan Hilarion, Metropolitan Tikhon and Archpriest Balashov.

The sanctions proposed for consideration by the National Security and Defense Council include the blocking of assets, trade restrictions, a partial or full ban on transit of resources, flights and transportation through Ukraine, prevention of capital transfer outside of Ukraine, suspended fulfillment of economic and financial obligations, annulment or suspension of mineral development licenses, a ban on privatization and leasing of public property, and a ban on access to radio frequencies in Ukraine.