The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine decided to allow conducting sermons inside cathedrals as well as open-air upon the condition of keeping the distance at least 1.5 meters between believers.

Amendments to the government decree of # 392 from May 20, 2020 provide the introduction of next stage of easing off the COVID-19 quarantine, which will start from June 5, the Institute for Religious Freedom reports.

The Ukrainian government allowed to conduct religious events indoors upon condition that there will be present not more than 1 person per 5 square meters which is in fact equal to a distance of 1.5 meters between believers.

The decree also allows to have religious events open-air which must also keep the requirement of maintaining physical distance 1.5 meters between present people.

In addition, people over 60 years old are allowed not to comply with the obligation of self-isolation.

Thus, the Cabinet of Ministers took into account main proposals of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO), which stood up for the introduction of such approach to the organization of religious events during the adaptive stage of the COVID-19 quarantine.

This decision of the Ukrainian Government was facilitated by a personal meeting of the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal with members of the UCCRO, which took place the day before.