The priest who transitioned from the UOC to the OCU explained why his parishioners refused to pray in Ukrainian.

Father Vasyl Levchenko served in the UOC church in Zastavna, Chernivtsi region, for five years. He attempted to serve in Ukrainian, appealed to Metropolitan Onufriy to separate from the Moscow Patriarchate, and helped at the front. But for some parishioners, he remained a "Moscow priest." This led to his transition to the OCU. In an interview with "Suspline," Father Vasyl explained why some parishioners refused to pray in Ukrainian.

From the beginning of the war, I slowly started switching to Ukrainian in services. And I explained to the people that praying in Ukrainian is normal, it is not a sin, and the prayer is accepted by God. Many people have a real fear that if they pray in Ukrainian, God will not hear them. This is probably due to propaganda that they think this way. But people said they wanted to traditionally pray in the Slavic language. Alright, let us pray in the Slavic language, but in the way your parents prayed. In the native pronunciation. And I slowly started doing this. Some people were dissatisfied, but the majority accepted it somehow. A large percentage of the activists were against it - this is a quarter or a third of the parish

According to Father Vasyl, people started to remember that their mothers never said "Vyeruyu," they said, "I believe in one God the Father Almighty."

People started saying that I serve in Ukrainian. And the Slavic language in Ukrainian pronunciation is very similar to the Ukrainian language. I gave them a book to follow and check whether I had changed any word, or maybe added something of my own, or removed something. You follow, there are only two or three letters read differently, but they sound different. I implemented this, and until the Time of the transition, this is how I served, happy that I managed to do so

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the Verkhovna Rada's decision regarding the law banning the Moscow church. According to the president, parliament adopted a law on "Ukraine's spiritual independence".

The Verkhovna Rada adopted bill No. 8371, which prohibits the activities in Ukraine of religious organizations with a governing center in a country that engages in armed aggression against Ukraine. This pertains to the Moscow church, operating in Ukraine under the UOC MP brand.