UNITED NAITONS, January 18. /TASS/. Due to Kiev’s persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Ukraine has found itself on the verge of a religious conflict of unprecedented scope, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said.

"The war on canonical Orthodox Christianity is another track of Kiev’s repressive policies. Ukraine stands on the brink of a large-scale inter-confessional conflict, which has not had any precedents in the modern European history," he told Tuesday’s session of the UN Security Council, initiated by Russia to discuss human rights in Ukraine.

"Supported by their Western sponsors, Ukrainian authorities have long adopted a course that seeks to undermine the Canonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine. As we heard from Metropolitan Anthony, now the schismatic church of Ukraine, which was artificially created in 2018 and made fully obedient to the authorities, is being forcibly imposed on the Ukrainian people," the Russian diplomat continued.

"Ukraine is only one step away from a fratricidal internal religious catastrophe," Nebenzya emphasized.

The UOC is a self-governing church with broad autonomy within the Moscow Patriarchate. The special status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is reflected in the Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church, which the Council of Bishops adopted in 2000. However, the Council of the UOC on May 27 of last year announced the adoption of amendments to the UOC Charter, declaring its complete independence. At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities recently stepped up a campaign against the UOC. Since November 2022, the Ukrainian security service SBU has been conducting searches in its churches and dioceses throughout the country. Several hierarchs were charged with treason and subversive activities.