Russian-Ukrainian Church War

The head of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Pavlo (Lebid) and Sergei Kryshtal, a Russian "Cossack general", during a tour with the icon of Tsar Nicholas II in Ukraine. The cult of the slain tsar and his family became an imperial propaganda tool for Orthodox believers in Ukraine.

Russian-Ukrainian Church War is a set of hostile actions of the Russian Orthodox Church and its part in Ukraine, Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) directed against the state of Ukraine.[1][2] It's a part of historical attempts of Russia to suppress the Ukrainian Orthdox Church and make it a subdivision of Moscow Orthodox Church that begun in 1686, when the Moscow Patriarch received from Patriarch Dionysius IV of Constantinople the right to temporarily ordain the Metropolitan of Kyiv.

One of the pillars of church confrontation in 21 century became the Russian-Ukrainian war which was differently attituded by Orthodox churches in Ukraine. The branch of Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine partly supported the Russian aggression in Donbas as well as Crime annexation by the Russian Federation in 2014.[3][4]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 1.1 Euromaidan
* 1.2 Russo-Ukrainian war
* 2 References

## History

Before the creation of Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in 2018–2019, which became fully legal and independent of Moscow Patriarchate, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and its branch in Ukraine, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), were used by special services to conduct Soviet propaganda in the USSR and in independent Ukraine. The propaganda aimed to mitigate the national self-consciousness. The hierarchs of the ROC and UOC-MP often stated that Russians and Ukrainians are the one nation without any difference.[5][6]

One of the reasons for the current confrontation between churches is the significantly disproportionate number of believers and parishes in Ukraine. Thus, according to 2011 data, the UOC-MP controlled 42.5% of parishes and had only 29.4% of believers, while for the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), the predecessor of OCU, controlled 15.4% of parished and had 39.8% of believers. In 2016, the ratio of believers was already 45.7% against 13.3% in favor of the UOC-KP.[7]

### Euromaidan

During the Revolution of Dignity the UOC-KP, in contrast to the UOC-MP, heavily supported the aspirations of the Ukrainian people for freedom and sided with them. The main UOC-KP monastery in Kyiv, Saint Michael Cathedral, became the main fortpost of the protest on 1 December 2013 and significantly influenced the success of the revolution of dignity.[8]

### Russo-Ukrainian war

During Russo-Ukrainian war, the ROC and UOC-MP supported the main narrative of the Kremlin propaganda, that there is no Russian forces in Donbass but only local insurgents, thus making Russo-Ukrainian war an internal civil war.[9]

On December 22, 2018, President Petro Poroshenko signed a law obliging the UOC-MP to indicate its affiliation with the ROC.[10]

## References

1. ↑ "Russia’s War on Ukraine Roils the Orthodox Church" (in en). https://www.usip.org/publications/2018/12/russias-war-ukraine-roils-orthodox-church.
2. ↑ "Russia, Ukraine, and the battle for religion" (in en-GB). https://ecfr.eu/article/commentary_orthodox_redox_russia_ukraine_and_the_battle_for_religion/.
3. ↑ "Церковний скандал чи державна зрада: УПЦ МП юридично визнала Крим частиною Росії та передала їй дві єпархії" (in uk). 2015-03-08. https://tsn.ua/politika/cerkovniy-skandal-chi-derzhavna-zrada-upc-mp-yuridichno-viznala-krim-chastinoyu-rosiyi-ta-peredala-yiy-dvi-yeparhiyi-414055.html.
4. ↑ "Ієрархи УПЦ (МП) бояться компромату від спецслужб Росії" (in uk). https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/29619980.html.
5. ↑ "УПЦ (Московського патріархату) в час війни України з Росією" (in uk). https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/29039980.html.
6. ↑ "Агенти політичної релігії Росії. УПЦ (МП) просуває в Україні чужу політику пам'яті – Горєвой" (in uk). https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/30609043.html.
7. ↑ "Опитування релігійної приналежності, 2011". http://www.kiis.com.ua/?lang=ukr&cat=reports&id=638&page=1.
8. ↑ "Ukrainians commemorating Maidan events on 5th anniversary of Revolution of Dignity (Video)" (in en). https://www.unian.info/society/10451097-ukrainians-commemorating-maidan-events-on-5th-anniversary-of-revolution-of-dignity-video.html.
9. ↑ "Russia set to escalate fight against Ukrainian Orthodox independence in 2020" (in en-US). 2020-01-03. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/russia-set-to-escalate-fight-against-ukrainian-orthodox-independence-in-2020/.
10. ↑ "Петро Порошенко підписав закон про перейменування УПЦ МП" (in uk). https://www.obozrevatel.com/ukr/politics/petro-poroshenko-pidpisav-zakon-pro-perejmenuvannya-upts-mp.htm.

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