Spiritual connection with the Russian Orthodox Church is a matter of state security of Ukraine, - MP Ariev

Volodymyr Ariev, a member of the Ukrainian parliament from the European Solidarity party, commented on the need to check the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church. The MP claims that the Primate of the UOC has not withdrawn from the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, and all the instructions of the Russian Church are flawlessly implemented in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He said this in a commentary to Radio Liberty.

«The procedure is written out, as far as I can see, quite clearly. And it also provides for the possibility to appeal the decision of the DESS through the judicial branch. In other words, there is no manual control, there is a legal mechanism, which is quite legal and has come into force. Someone may not like it, someone may really see it as a restriction on freedom of religion, but there is another issue: because of the churches that have direct relations with Moscow and are actually connected, not just documentarily, but also spiritually with them, it is clear that this primarily concerns the security of the state of Ukraine,» — Ariev said.

The MP claims that the Primate of the UOC has not withdrawn from the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the instructions from Moscow are allegedly still binding on the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC.

«A religious organization has a subordination structure similar to the military. That is, for example, the instructions and decisions of the church leadership are on the same level of orders as in the army, and are not discussed but implemented. Therefore, here we are not dealing with sporadic manifestations of work for the Kremlin, but with a systematic work in the church, which is directly controlled from the Russian Federation,» the MP said.

Earlier, MP of the Servant of the People party Georgiy Mazurashu once again criticized the anti-church law No. 3894, which is aimed at banning the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The deputy is convinced that the responsibility for violating certain state laws should be borne by the people who commit these crimes, and not by the entire organization to which the offenders may be related.