Volodymyr Zelensky banned eleven political parties and all independent media in the early days of the Russo-Ukrainian War. Ukraine became a single-party state with what Zelensky called the “United News.” Zelensky had already banned several opposition media outlets before the war started.

Over time, Zelensky made new rules forbidding elected officials from opposition parties from even holding meetings together. Some current and former MPs were thrown in prison or murdered.

Since then, Zelensky has continuously escalated a crackdown on public freedom. The Russian Orthodox church was targeted early in the war. However, the Ukrainian Orthodox church is also being targeted, and dozens of Ukrainian Orthodox priests are now under arrest. There is also a faction of Orthodox Jews who have seen their leaders arrested by the state.

Ukrainian Orthodox clergy are being ordered to shift their allegiance to a state-sponsored church leadership based out of Kiev. 

Now, Zelensky has announced that four current and former opposition MPs are being stripped of their Ukrainian citizenship. He says that more political figures will be stripped of their citizenship in the coming days.

Zelensky strips opposition politicians of their Ukrainian citizensh...