Ukraine's Orthodox Church could become independent of Moscow under the terms of a presidential initiative lawmakers approved on Thursday, a move that President Petro Poroshenko said would make it harder for Russia to meddle in Ukrainian affairs.
Ukraine's pro-Western leaders have sought step by step to move the former Soviet republic out of Russia's orbit, after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and a Moscow-backed insurgency broke out in eastern Ukraine.
The Moscow Patriarchate is part of the Russian Orthodox Church and has a sizable following in Ukraine. Kiev considers it a tool for the Kremlin to wield influence.
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