OCU considers demolition of UOC Tithe Church in Kyiv a "right decision"

The head of the press service of the OCU, Yevstratiy Zorya, called the dismantling of the Tithe Church of St. Volodymyr and St. Olga in Kyiv in May this year «the right decision». Zoria believes that «it was the duty of the state to remove this symbol of spiritual and material invasion of our history.» He said this in an interview with Gazeta.ua.

«This is the right decision. For decades, the structure of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine has lived by the principle that there are laws and rules for someone and there is law for them. They wanted to — and they did. Dozens of objects were taken away from the Kyiv Cave Monastery. Pavlo Lebed sent his subordinates who simply threw the museum workers out. The decision to dismantle put an end to this story — one cannot do evil under the guise of good intentions. This unauthorized construction was erected to secure the place where the first stone church of Russia stood. There is a granite block on which the words from the Tale of Bygone Years are engraved: «Whence came the Russian land?» It is important for the «Russian world» to show that Kyiv is theirs, Russian. Therefore, it was the duty of the state to remove this symbol of spiritual and material invasion of our history. There were no documented permits for the construction of this building. There was only impudence and the belief that their status allows them to do anything,» — said the OCU spokesman.

In addition, Yevstratiy Zorya believes that the UOC believers who came to lay flowers at the site of the Tithe Church after its dismantling were actually «crying on camera.» Zorya hints that by such actions the UOC discredits Ukraine.

«And another important point: after the court decision dismantled this unauthorized construction, they began to bring people en masse to cry on camera about how they are suffering. But why do we not see anything like this at the sites of churches destroyed by the Russian occupiers? When the official news reports that the Sviatohirsk Lavra in the Donetsk region was shelled by Russians, the Moscow Patriarchate writes in its news: «There was a shelling.» As if it were a natural disaster. They don’t even want to blame Russia for this. They direct all their statements against Ukraine: it oppresses them. And yet they claim to be against the war and pray for peace,» — Yevstratiy Zorya summarized.

We will remind, on July 14, 2024, on the day of the Baptism of Rus according to the New Julian calendar, the OCU held a meeting of the Synod, which resulted in a call for unification «around the Kyivan throne». The organization assured that it was ready for dialogue.