ALMOST 2000 parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) (UOC) have transferred to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine since 2019, when the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew, recognised the latter as an autocephalous Church (appointing its own head).

The head of the State Service of Ukraine on Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, Viktor Yelenskyi, announced that the majority of transitions took place in Kyiv, Volyn, and the Khmelnytskyi regions in western Ukraine.

The news of the number of parish transfers comes as Ukrainian officials begin to assess the UOC’s ties to the Russian Orthodox Church. This is said to have alarmed Moscow’s leadership and prompted the Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, to say that Russia will not abandon Orthodox believers in Ukraine and will ensure that “canonical Orthodoxy regains the central place” in the spiritual life of the country.

At a reception at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Lavrov said: “A tragic but clear example of its man-hating essence is the years-long harassment of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the largest confession in the country, which those who have seized power in Kiev have pushed towards the brink of legal termination.”

He confirmed that discussions regarding Ukrainian Orthodoxy were part of the most recent phone call between the Presidents of the United States and Russia.

Moscow rejected the Vatican’s recent offer for mediation between President Putin and President Zelensky of Ukraine (News, 23 May), which some world leaders considered a possibility after the Istanbul talks failed to deliver a ceasefire agreement.

The Russian and Ukrainian delegations agreed to a prisoner swap, but the exchange took place amid the largest Russian air attack yet, carried out over the weekend with drones and missiles. The strikes killed 12 people, including three children.

Legal protection of Russian culture and the Orthodox faithful in Ukraine is not the only concern for Moscow and its Patriarchate. Patriarch Kirill has complained of similar “programmes of persecution” against the Russian Church in the Baltic states and in Moldova.

He described Estonia’s actions regarding the government push for the severance of the Orthodox ties between Tallinn and Moscow as a particular concern and an attempt by Estonian authorities to “force Orthodox believers to switch to the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople”.

“And where did Orthodoxy in Estonia come from?” the Patriarch asked. “Not from China or Paris. It is Russian Orthodoxy, and generation after generation, Orthodox people were raised in this system of values, attending the churches of the Russian Orthodox Church.

“These manifestations of blatant discrimination faced by our faithful demand an adequate response and fair assessment from the international community.”

Reaffirming his Church’s 2022 decision, the Primate of the UOC, Metropolitan Onufry, repeated his condemnation of the Moscow Patriarchate. “Unfortunately, after the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow fully took the side of the Russian political leadership and consistently justified the military aggression against Ukraine.”

He urged other Orthodox Churches to recognise its independence.