What did Kyiv's December 2018 laws change?

What did Ukraine's authorities set in motion on 23 December 2018? On that date, President Petro Poroshenko signed a law requiring the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) to state in its name its affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church.

The day before, on 22 December 2018, veterans of the UPA, the Polissian Sich and units of the OUN were legally recognised as participants in combat operations.

Two measures, two audiences

The first measure concerns how a religious organisation identifies itself publicly. Under the signed law, the name of the UOC (MP) must carry a reference to the Russian Orthodox Church, so the link is stated in the title itself.

The second measure concerns status in law. Recognition as participants in combat operations places the named groups of veterans within a defined legal category.

Taken together, the two decisions fell within two days and both dealt with questions of naming and recognition: how one church is to be described, and how certain wartime formations are to be classed. Both were formal acts of the state, one signed by the president and the other written into legislation.