MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. The founder of the unrecognized schismatic Ukrainian Orthodox Church reporting to Kiev Patriarchate, Metropolitan Filaret, has sent a letter to the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill I with a request to pardon him and to help overcome the current split of the once united Orthodox Church in Ukraine, says a document the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church adopted on Thursday.

"The Council of Bishops has examined a written appeal of the former Metroplitan Filaret of Kiev and all Ukraine to His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill I and the assembly of bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church dated November 16, 2017," the document said. "The letter contains a request for restoring unity in the sacrament of eucharism and communication through prayer with the Christians currently embraced by the Ukrainian schism."