Robert Amsterdam names high-ranking U.S. officials involved in creation of OCU

The head of the international human rights company Amsterdam & Partners LLP, Robert Amsterdam, who represents the legal interests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, in an interview with Tucker Carlson, named the names of high-ranking US officials who, in his opinion, were involved in the creation of the OCU. The lawyer said that the story of the creation of the “fake church” began in 2014, and the US State Department involved Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in this process. The interview was published on Tucker Carlson’s YouTube channel.

“We believe that it all started with Victoria Nuland. It should be borne in mind that this was a major special operation, as she cooperated with the US Ambassador to Ukraine, who later, in a strange way, became the US Ambassador to Greece. And it is the Patriarch of Constantinople who projects the destruction of our Church by taking canonical control, withdrawing it from the Moscow Patriarchate, and taking it for himself, violating the treaty signed in the 17th century. And, by the way, this also happened with the support of Secretary of State Michael Pompeo (Phanar archon – ed.). So, this is not just a matter of the Democrats. Pompeo was involved in granting the Tomos so that Ukraine could establish an autocephalous church, which happened in 2019,” – Amsterdam said.

The lawyer added that the OCU is still partially funded by the United States, while coordinating its actions with the SBU, which, in turn, helps the OCU seize churches and repress UOC priests.

“So, the church, which is now considered a supposedly ‘pure church’ independent of Russia, is only five years old. And this church, which we believe is partially funded by the United States, is engaged in a brutal campaign of persecution, intimidation, coordinating its actions with the SBU to take away churches, disrupt services, and beat priests. I want you to understand that I met with priests who were tortured. One of them had a heart attack the day after he met with me because he was interrogated by the SBU. Try to imagine it!” – the human rights activist added.

Earlier, Vladimir Zelensky gave an interview to British journalist Piers Morgan, in which, among other things, he also spoke about the ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Zelensky rejected accusations that he was adopting dictatorial laws, one of which was to ban the UOC. In his opinion, Tucker Carlson, who allegedly spreads these “Russian narratives,” should stop “licking Putin’s ass.”