Russian Foreign Ministry calls on the UN to intervene in the situation of persecution against the UOC

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Vershinin, during a meeting with Miguel Moratinos, the High Representative of the UN Secretary-General for the Alliance of Civilizations, urged the international community to pay attention to the repression against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) and the Estonian Orthodox Church. This was reported by the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The talks took place within the framework of the 23rd International Likhachev Scientific Readings, held on May 22–23 in Saint Petersburg.

According to the ministry, on the sidelines of the event, Vershinin held detailed consultations with the UN representative. Both parties confirmed their mutual interest in further strengthening cooperation in the areas of inter-civilizational, intercultural, and interreligious dialogue.

“The Deputy Minister drew the UN representative’s attention to the need for decisive measures to stop the systematic persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and pressure on the Estonian Orthodox Church, as well as to protect the rights of Christians in the Middle East,” the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized.

It is also worth recalling that religious scholar and OCU lobbyist Tatiana Derkach suggested that following the end of the Russia-Ukraine war, the split in global Orthodoxy will deepen, and the Church itself will polarize into Greek and Russian parts. Derkach made this conclusion based on a recent meeting of the Primates of the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches held in Moscow.