Verkhovna Rada Committee wants to toughen responsibility for damage to places of worship

Verkhovna Rada Committee on Culture and Spirituality supported bill № 5679 to ban outdoor advertising on the monuments of cultural heritage and bill № 5677 to increase responsibility in the area of protection of monuments, reports Reradio citing RISU.

The bill provides for increasing penalties for damage to cultural heritage. Among them are "places of worship and structures" – churches and cemeteries.

It is proposed to set a fine of 1 million 600 thousand hryvnia for damage to monuments. Damage is also considered the application of inscriptions and symbols on the monument. The bill provides for a strict monitoring of compliance with the requirements for the repair, maintenance of necessary conditions and carrying out construction and repair and other works.

Outdoor advertising on the monuments of cultural heritage is proposed to be punishable by a fine of 3 million 800 thousand hryvnia per 1 sq. m advertising.

The Committee supported the bills, which further should be voted on by MPs.

Read also

DESS: The number of communities joining OCU in 2024 is half of last year’s

Over a year, 232 communities of the UOC changed their jurisdiction.

Scale of internal damage to UOC cathedral in Zaporizhzhia shown online

The video allows viewers to assess the damage endured by the main Orthodox church of the UOC in Zaporizhzhia.

Ex-MP UOC protodeacon Novinsky declared suspicion of high treason

The former MP is accused of "ensuring that a significant part of Ukrainian society, who are believers of the UOC, remain under the direct influence of the leader of the ROC".

St Andrew’s icon survives under the rubble of UOC cathedral in Zaporizhzhia

The icon was painted by nuns of the St Nicholas Monastery in Patras (Greece) and consecrated on the relics of St Andrew the Apostle.

RF missile strike destroys St Andrew's Cathedral of UOC in Zaporizhzhia

The fragments damaged the roof of the building, dome, ceilings, cut windows and disfigured classrooms.

Media shows conditions in which persecuted communities of Volyn have to pray

After their churches were seized, UOC faithful are compelled to pray in poorly equipped facilities.