MOSCOW, July 10. /TASS/. The decision by the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) to label the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) as "affiliated" with the Russian Orthodox Church is aimed solely at fulfilling Vladimir Zelensky’s goal of dismantling the canonical religious community in Ukraine, Artyom Dmytruk, a non-aligned Verkhovna Rada lawmaker, told TASS.
"All these so-called decisions and statements by the regime can be framed however they like. But their ultimate goal is the same — to destroy our Orthodox Church. This is Zelensky’s mission, because it represents the strongest force within the country, one that refuses to submit and never will. Zelensky is acting like a demon, and the Church will never obey a demon," he said, commenting on the service’s conclusions.
The day before, the department announced that it had found evidence of the UOC’s affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church. This decision could serve as a legal basis for a full ban on the canonical church through the courts.