The local council in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Thursday became the first to ban a branch of the Orthodox church that was until last month directly affiliated with Moscow.
According to Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi, the unanimous council vote to prohibit the activity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) - with longstanding ties to Moscow - was "political" and without legislative effect, as rules on religious organisations are made at the national level.
