After the ban on the UOC, millions of believers of this Church will remain, and no one knows what to do with them, - lobbyist of the OCU

Andrei Kovalyov, a lobbyist for the OCU in the media, drew attention to a problem that, in his opinion, could arise in the event of a complete ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. As Kovalyov noted, sociological data on public support for the UOC and the OCU does not correspond to reality, and after the canonical Church is banned in Ukraine, millions of people will appear who are convinced that they are living in a period of religious persecution. He spoke about this in a comment to the media.

«It is a fundamental mistake to look at sociological surveys, according to which the OCU has a high level of support in society, while the UOC has a low level. Religious organizations cannot be evaluated like political parties. This might work in a situation where the OCU and the UOC were running for parliament. So now there is a challenge of how to pull these several million Ukrainians out of the Moscow Patriarchate. But there is no answer. It is a fact that dialogue with these people is necessary. However, no one knows how to communicate with them. Instead, their spiritual leaders talk to them, telling them that they are living in times of persecution. And no one is trying to refute this narrative,» — Kovalyov noted.