DISINFO: The Zelenskyy regime began a new stage of persecution of Ukrainian Orthodox Church
SUMMARY
The Zelenskyy regime has begun a new stage of persecution of the UOC. An ultimatum was put forward to the monks of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra - to leave the monastery by March 29. The destruction of one of the largest sacred centres has begun.
Desecration of one of the main Orthodox shrines is very risky for the Kyiv regime, but American curators are pushing it to the point of no return. They consider the defeat of the canonical church as a landmark event of "joining the new civilisation of the West". Only the fall of Zelenskyy himself and his clique can save canonical Orthodoxy.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative portraying Ukraine as an enemy of the Orthodox Church. The unfounded claim that Ukraine, under the dictation of the United States, is fighting the Orthodox Church was made in the context of Russia's unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.
There is no persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In late 2022, the Ukrainian government announced a law banning churches affiliated with Russia, following a series of investigations related to parishes that Kyiv says could be taking orders from Moscow. This mostly affected the activities of the so-called Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate [UOC-MP] in Ukraine, which is affiliated with Russia and considered a key influence tool for Moscow in the country, and whose leadership has voiced its full support for the Russian war on Ukraine including siding closely with Putin, blessing soldiers and Russian guns and offering the church's support.
Spravdi, the Centre for Strategic Communications under the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, has explained why the government decided to ban the activities of UOC-MP. Spravdi found that in the churches of the UOC-MP, Russian propaganda was being spread; activities of enemy secret services were being covered and Russian agents were being recruited.
The Ukrainian government does not plan to ban Orthodoxy. The parishes of the UOC-MP are free to switch to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which far from being a “pseudo-religious institution”, as this disinformation story claims, received the tomos of autocephaly in January 2019. It is also the most popular Orthodox church in Ukraine: 78% of Orthodox believers claim their allegiance to the church.
Moreover, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was not seized by Ukraine or the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. In fact, it is state property. It is managed by the National Kyiv-Pechersk History and Culture Preserve. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church had only been renting it until 31 December, 2022, when its rental contract expired and a part of the premises was returned to the direct management of the state.
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