Azarov: The West is Well Aware of the Persecution of the UOC and the Consequences of the Coup

Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov stated that Western countries are well aware of the processes taking place in Ukraine, including the persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This was reported by the “Orthodox Ukraine” channel.

“Could anyone have imagined, back in 2012–2013, that it would be possible to encroach on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, seize the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, and take away 1,500 churches?” he noted, emphasizing the scale of the changes that have taken place in recent years.

According to him, what is happening in the country today is a direct result of the armed coup. This refers to the mass brutalization of society, when an unarmed person can be beaten on public transport, or a million-strong city or the entire Crimea can be left without water.

Azarov also expressed his conviction that these events could not have gone unnoticed in the West: “I will never believe that all these excesses are unknown to the Western leadership. Never. Knowing how the information services, embassies, intelligence, and everything else work, I know that all of this is being reported.”

It should also be recalled that Mykola Azarov stated that clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church across the country are under centralized pressure from the authorities — they are being sent summonses in an attempt to force them to abandon the UOC and join the OCU in exchange for a deferral from mobilization.