MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/. The United States’ silence about Kiev’s crimes against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church actually means approval of these illegal acts, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a report titled "Illegal actions by the Kiev regime targeting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), its clergy and parishioners."
"While presenting itself as a fierce advocate of the freedom of religion, the United States has been silencing information about the crimes perpetrated by Kiev. Acting at the level of the Congressional Commission on International Religious Freedom and the Department of State, the US regularly issues reports about the violation of religious rights around the world. However, they have failed to criticize [Ukrainian President] Vladimir Zelensky’s church policy since the persecution of Orthodox believers started in Ukraine, which could suggest that the US approves of the illegal acts committed by its underlings," the report reads.
According to the ministry, "the events unfolding in Ukraine contribute to the overall picture of a systemic crisis in world Orthodoxy caused by the policies of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the United States and other Western countries, which encourage the schismatics to do what they are doing."
"The Kiev authorities and the West are trying to drive a wedge between the Russian and Ukrainian peoples, to destroy the spiritual affinity of Orthodox believers in the two countries, even despite the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s decision to become independent from the Moscow Patriarchate," the report pointed out.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also emphasized that "the UN and other specialized organizations have yet to focus on the challenges faced by canonical Orthodoxy in Ukraine." "There still has been no adequate response to the anti-Orthodox policy adopted by the ruling regime in Kiev, or to multiple instances of the UOC’s property and assets being seized, while its clergy and believers endured arbitrary treatment and violence," the document said.
"The authorities in Kiev have blatantly violated the following international legal documents, among others: the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the corresponding commitments within the OSCE and many other international acts guaranteeing the freedom of religion as an inalienable human right," the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.