“Patriarch Bartholomew's plans include the creation of the Kiev exarchate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Ukraine” - Novinsky

A former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Protodeacon Vadym Novynskyy, has said that the ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was carried out with the full assistance of the Ukrainian government and the Patriarchate of Constantinople. He is convinced that the next step is the creation of an additional exarchate of the Phanar in Ukraine, which, according to the idea of the Office of the President, should include clerics and believers of the banned UOC. About this the former Deputy wrote on his page in Facebook.

“The anti-church law is the result of joint actions of President Zelensky and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Each of them was guided by their own goals, but at the same time the Office of the President constantly coordinated their plans with the Phanar. A few days before the adoption of the law, the Ukrainian delegation visited Istanbul, coordinating further steps with Patriarch Bartholomew. Thus the Ecumenical Patriarch joined the Sanhedrin. Instead of caring about the unity of Orthodoxy in the world, about the fate of clergy and believers, Patriarch Bartholomew allowed actions that led to the deepening of contradictions in the Orthodox world. The tears and suffering of the Ukrainian Orthodox are on the conscience of His Holiness. Patriarch Bartholomew plans to create in Ukraine the Kyiv Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, i.e. another church jurisdiction, which in itself emphasizes the fallacy of the establishment of the OCU, and thus the policy of the Phanar, which has been pursued so far. Emissaries of the Ecumenical Patriarch have already arrived in Kyiv to prepare for the creation of a new structure and, this especially clearly shows who is the customer of the persecution of the UOC,” — the politician wrote.

Novinsky claims that after the adoption of the law, the pressure on the UOC will only increase, and the Church will be made hostage to the situation in order to further use as a subject of negotiations with Russia.

“After the adoption of the law, the pressure on the Church by the authorities will increase tenfold. The law enforcement agencies have been given the opportunity to force bishops and clergy into the exarchate by carrot and stick, condemning dissenters to reprisals and persecution. The authorities are deliberately sowing hatred within their own country, among Ukrainians, dividing them into “right” and “wrong”, declaring millions of UOC believers as enemies, and pitting outright bandits and provocateurs against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In fact, in the current situation, the Office of the President is trying to turn the Church into a hostage: they will try to use the church issue as a card in negotiations with Russia, and bishops, priests and laymen will be used to replenish the exchange fund by fabricating false criminal cases against them. We see this in the example of Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchin and Bratslav, who has already been exchanged. We know with certainty that pressure is also being exerted on other vladyks, who are being openly blackmailed. The SSU officers are demanding that they ‘voluntarily’ agree to the exchange,” — Novynskyy added.

It is worth noting that political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko expressed a different opinion about the future of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church after the adoption of the law No. 8371 aimed at banning it. Fesenko believes that the authorities’ activity in the issue of banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church means that the church will not be bargaining with Russia in case of negotiations.