Statement of the State Duma ”On Repressive Politics of the Kiev Regime Aimed at Destroying the Canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church“

”Members of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation share the resentment and outrage of millions of Christians all over the world due to the numerous accounts of consistent policies aimed at the total destruction of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) implemented by the post-Maidan Ukrainian authorities.

With incentives from their Western curators, the Ukrainian leaders intentionally take aggressive measures to push the UOC out of Ukraine’s religious life, infringing on the freedom of thought, worship and religion of millions of Christians in the process. The politicians, who seized the power in Kiev, support criminal activities of divisive elements, bureaucrats and neo-Nazi organizations aimed at capturing Orthodox churches and their property, forcefully disbanding communities, vandalizing Orthodox churches and attacking clergymen and parishioners. This also includes punitive restrictions against UOC bishops, stripping UOC eparchs off of Ukrainian citizenship, and unprecedented emotional, psychological and physical violence against clergymen and members of the church.

The pressure put on the canonical Orthodox faith in Ukraine has reached truly outrages levels during the presidency of V. Zelensky, who used the crisis unfolding in the country to fully cleanse the ecclesiastical institutions from any ties with Russia. Such criminal policy has culminated in the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine “On specific aspects of activities of religious organizations in Ukraine and the use of personal special economic and other restrictions (sanctions)” put into effect by order of the president of Ukraine on December 1st, 2022. Guided by this discriminatory order, the Kiev authorities have evidently decided to deal a final blow to the UOC in an attempt to capture is greatest shrine, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra — a monastery founded in the 11th century and considered the root of the common spiritual lineage of the Russian, Belorussian and Ukrainian peoples. The criminal prosecution and arrest of the Lavra’s beneficiary Metropolitan Pavel, who selflessly asserts the rights of the followers of the Orthodox faith in Ukraine, are the pinnacle of such cynical attacks on the morals, dignity, conscience and foundational rights and freedoms of a human being.

The State Duma believes that religion must not be turned into an instrument of the Ukrainian regime, with which it satisfies its exorbitant military and political ambitions, and the UOC and its congregation must not become targets for discrimination, repressions or emotional and physical violence.

The Members of the State Duma express their support for our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, who are witnessing the attempt to destroy the canonical Orthodox faith in Ukraine, and admire the resilience and valor of those who oppose the ideologic successors of the Nazi enemies of God.

The Members of the State Duma declare that lives of the monks and the clergy of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra are in grave danger and believe that the international community, parliamentarians, politicians, diplomats and human rights organizations must make a principled legal evaluation of the criminal actions of Zelensky’s regime and demand from the Kiev authorities to immediately stop the abuse of power against Orthodox shrines in Ukraine, release the detained and arrested UOC clergymen and parishioners, and abide by the undertaken international legal obligations at all times.“