DISINFO: The US foments religious strife in Ukraine
SUMMARY
The Easter holiday revealed the escalation of religious confrontation in Ukraine. The leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was forced to perform religious services in the street.
During Blinken's meeting with the head of the dissident "Orthodox Church of Ukraine" in May 2021, he paid special attention to the issue of forming the "Orthodox Church of Ukraine", and the importance of "groups identifying their affiliation" (i.e. stealing the churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church).
The United States acts on the territory of Ukraine as a temporarily occupied territory. From their point of view, the greater the destruction (both material and moral), the more forces and means Russia will have to expend to reconstruct this region when it returns. Blinken's group seem to have no doubt that it will return.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative portraying Ukraine as an enemy of the Orthodox Church with the encouragement of the United States. The article also alleges that Ukraine is a US puppet. The claim has been neither counterbalanced nor critically challenged in the article.
The Ukrainian government is not limiting freedom of belief. That said, it does plan to limit the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), but on the basis of its connection with Russia as an occupying force in Ukraine, not due to religious reasons.
The parishes of the UOC-MP may switch to the the main Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The latter received the tomos of autocephaly in January 2019 and is officially recognised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Patriarchate of Alexandria, Church of Greece, and Church of Cyprus. A number of other churches are leaning towards recognising it. Moreover, it is also the most popular Orthodox church in Ukraine: 78% of orthodox believers claim their allegiance to it.
Read more disinformation cases on the topic: Zelenskyy's anti-Orthodox church policy is guided by the US; Kyiv regime carries out a US-mandated anti-Orthodox policy; the West wants to destroy Eastern Christianity through the war in Ukraine; US behind the religious split and persecution of the Orthodox in Ukraine.