Russia is creating conflicts in Ukraine with the help of the UOC, - Cyril Hovorun

The defrocked former cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill Govorun, claims that Russia is creating conflicts in Ukraine using the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Govorun believes that Russia, speaking of protecting the UOC, is actually actively using the religious factor to destabilize the internal situation in Ukrainian society. He stated this in his report during a conference organized by the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience.

“We do not see some things in this global paradigm that Russia is promoting. I think we do not see it in Ukraine as well. Because, for example, we have a certain belief, a certain stereotype, that Russia protects its structures in Ukraine. That is, it considers the UOC to be its structure, and it protects this structure in every possible way as its resource in Ukraine. I think that this is a bit of a misconception about Russia’s interest in using soft power, because Russia is not protecting its structure, Russia is using it to create conflicts. It uses its structures to increase conflict in a particular region. Moreover, an important tool in this case for Russia is not only this or that religious structure, but the tools that allow it to allegedly protect this structure. These are, for example, tools to protect freedom of conscience. And in this sense, Russia, violating human rights and freedom of conscience at home, in the occupied territories, where it is present, uses these tools where it is not present in order to increase conflict and chaos beyond its influence. And I think this is actually happening in Ukraine,” — Hovorun said.

As reported, on December 20, 2024, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, made a report at a meeting of the clergy of the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, in which he paid considerable attention to the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The First Hierarch emphasized the criminal cases against the UOC bishops, the continuous seizures of churches, and the aggressive policy of the Ukrainian government towards the canonical Church. His Holiness regretted that the leaders of European countries did not react to the unprecedented persecution of the Church in Ukraine.